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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27924817">a kind of magic</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkatwrites/pseuds/kitkatwrites'>kitkatwrites</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>my sun, my moon, and all my stars [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>"fuck 'em!", Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst, Betrayal, Faeries - Freeform, Fairies, Found Family, M/M, Minor Character Death, Tsukki works at a museum, Vampires, Warlocks, Werewolves, any negative thoughts expressed towards them in this fic, are not a representation of how whipped she is for them irl, in the immortal words of my mom, minor KageHina, sakuatsu shoved themselves into this fic, the author accidentally channeled Magnus Bane while writing Kuroo, the author has many regrets, the author swears that she really likes sakuatsu and the miya twins, the miya twins are not human but what type of creature they actually are is up for debate</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:35:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>22,235</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27924817</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkatwrites/pseuds/kitkatwrites</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Excuse me sir, may I ask what you’re doing?” Kei walked up to stand next to the man, finally getting a good look at his face.</p>
<p>Kei’s eyes widened. The man had slitted eyes, his irises a bright green that almost seemed to emit their own sort of light. They were cat eyes, Kei realized. Said eyes flicked to stare at Kei, who jumped at the gaze.</p>
<p>“Hello beautiful,” the man stared at his name tag, “Tsukishima. A gorgeous name for a gorgeous man,” he grinned. Kei shivered. He had what could almost be considered fangs; certainly too sharp to be normal.</p>
<p>“What are you doing?” Kei repeated, quieter this time.</p>
<p>“Kuroo Tetsurou, High Warlock of Tokyo, at your service,” the man chose to introduce himself instead. He grinned like a Cheshire Cat. “Have you ever seen <i>Nightmare At The Museum</i>?”</p>
<p>Kei sighed. “Sir, if you make the Tarbosaurus play fetch with its own rib bone I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” he said in his best customer-service voice that he could manage.</p>
<p>“What if I use a tail bone instead?” Kuroo’s grin widened, and Kei felt his self control beginning to fly out the window.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kindaichi Yuutarou/Kunimi Akira, Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei, Miya Atsumu &amp; Miya Osamu, Miya Atsumu/Sakusa Kiyoomi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>my sun, my moon, and all my stars [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2044780</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>114</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>a kind of magic</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello I've been writing this since July and I have decided that I will never write another fic over 10k cause this bitch took so much out of me I'm fucking exhausted. Anyways. I hope you enjoy!</p>
<p>The title is from a Queen album of the same name.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>At first, Kei thought it was an earthquake. The ground shook as a giant bang tore through Kei’s eardrums, making the displays rattle in their cases and forcing Kei to grab onto the wall, lest he fall and hurt himself.</p>
<p>After a couple seconds of the ground shaking underneath his feet, everything stopped suddenly, as if nothing had been out of the ordinary in the first place. Kei hesitantly pushed himself off of the wall, surveying the hallway to (thankfully) find nothing out of place.</p>
<p>Seconds before, he had been on his way to the breakroom; acting as a tour guide for twenty hungry and bored children was not his favorite part of his job. Besides, most children would be ecstatic to see a real life replica of a plesiosaurs; at least, he would have been. It wasn’t his problem that those children couldn’t fully appreciate the wonders of sauropterygian reptiles, he thought bitterly as he swung the door open.</p>
<p>Kei wished that he had continued thinking about plesiosaurs, or perhaps their close relative the pliosaur, and kept walking past the breakroom. Maybe to curse the stupidity of children while he fixed his hair in the bathroom mirror, because he happened to be witness to one of his coworkers eating out of the back of her head.</p>
<p>“What the fuck,” he said, almost <em>too </em>calm for what he was witnessing. It was the kind of <em>what the fuck </em>that you used for when your local market was out of strawberry shortcake. Scratch that, an event like that warranted a stronger <em>what the fuck.</em> This <em>what the fuck </em>was too calm by any standards Kei might hold it up to, but alas, the dispassionate words had already left his lips.</p>
<p>His coworker dropped her hair and spun around, biting into the apple that had previously been bitten into by the <em>mouth in the back of her head.</em></p>
<p>“Oh Tsukishima-san, I didn’t hear you come in,” she said through a mouthful of back-of-head-mouth apple.</p>
<p>“Shirofuku-san, correct me if I’m wrong, but were you just eating out of the back of your head?” Kei asked, still too calm for the current situation.</p>
<p>“Oh! Did you see that?” She asked, also too calm for the current situation. “Sorry about that, you know how it is.” Shirofuku smiled, and Kei had the thought that <em>no, he does not know how it is.</em></p>
<p>“No, I do not know how it is,” he told her.</p>
<p>“Oh.” Shirofuku blinked at him. “But...you can see my other mouth.”</p>
<p>Kei sighed. “Yes, I can see the mouth in the back of your head. How come I’ve never noticed it before?”</p>
<p>“I…” Shirofuku seemed at a loss for words. Her phone pinged, and she looked away from Kei. “Oh, shit.”</p>
<p>🌙</p>
<p>Kei soon found out that this was an <em>oh shit </em>moment of epic proportions, perhaps even earning a very passionate <em>what the fuck.</em></p>
<p>“‘The demonic cult <em>Akuma</em> reportedly took credit for performing a ceremony that stripped the moon of all of its powers, ridding the magical community of almost all their magical abilities and exposing them to humans,’” Kei read off of Japan Today’s website with an incredulous voice.</p>
<p>“What the fuck?” Yamaguchi, his best friend and worst annoyance, exclaimed through a mouthful of Onigiri. “Their cult name is just ‘demon.’”</p>
<p>“<em>That’s </em>what you’re concerned about?” Kei stared at Yamaguchi with a bewildered look. “People are talking about cults and moon magic and mouths in the backs of peoples’ heads and you’re fixated on a <em>name</em>?”</p>
<p>“To be fair,” Yamaguchi swallowed, “you’re the only one talking about the mouth thing.”</p>
<p>“Oh shut up Yamaguchi, it was a traumatic experience.”</p>
<p>“Oh yeah?” Yamaguchi raised an eyebrow. “What are you going to do when an oni goes walking down the street on your way home from work? Pass out?”</p>
<p>Kei glared at his friend. “You aren’t helping.</p>
<p>“Uh huh.” Yamaguchi took another bite. “Did you even ask your coworker what the mouth thing was about?”</p>
<p>“She’s a futakuchi-onna,” Kei mumbled, “said she was cursed back in the Edo period because of how little she ate. Frankly, as her coworker, I have a hard time seeing her as a picky eater.”</p>
<p>“Well, she does have two mouths, one of which is a ravenous, demonic <em>thing,</em>” Yamaguchi reasoned, “maybe she’s been feeding lots of food to that mouth and you’ve just never noticed.”</p>
<p>Kei hummed. “Maybe.”</p>
<p>🌙</p>
<p>The next day seemed almost <em>too </em>normal for what had happened the previous day. Kei’s day started normally like always: visiting his local coffee shop, <em>The Wolf’s Den</em>, in hopes of tasting some of that sweet, liquid energy that kept him from snapping completely at work and stabbing someone with the nearest dinosaur tooth.</p>
<p>When he walked up to the counter to order his drink, he took one look at the barista and sighed.</p>
<p>“Sorry hun,” the barista told him. His name tag read ‘Suga,’ and he had pointy teeth and ears and gossamer wings that fluttered every time he moved. “Lots of people have been freaked out but we can’t really do much in terms of hiding things with the moon all screwed up.”</p>
<p>“I thought you’d be a werewolf,” Kei admitted.</p>
<p>Suga snorted. “I am a faerie, however, my boyfriend is a werewolf. He owns the shop.”</p>
<p>Kei nodded, as if everything in the world made sense, which it didn’t. Better to pretend than get left behind, he decided.</p>
<p>“So, what can I get for you today?” Suga asked, a customer-pleasing smile plastered onto his face.</p>
<p>Kei jumped. “Oh, right. One black coffee, I’m going to need it.”</p>
<p>Suga laughed, and Kei tried not to give into stereotypes, but he swore he could hear little bells ringing. He wondered if he stuck his hand down Suga’s throat, he’d pull out a set of blood-covered bells, still ringing in the sick imitation of a laugh. Kei decided that he shouldn't be thinking this much before coffee.</p>
<p>After ordering, Kei stepped aside and wondered about the implications of taking food and drink from the fair folk. It had been fine up until now, right? Kei’s train of thought was distracted by Suga handing him his coffee, and he took a sip before he could question whether it was a smart idea or not.</p>
<p>Thanking Suga, he continued on his way to work. On his walk, he encountered two more faeries, a wolf whose head reached Kei’s shoulders, and, strangely enough, a pair of Ashinagatenaga. And no, he did not pass out, thank you very much Yamaguchi.</p>
<p>Kei finally made his way to work, and after changing and clocking in, he started wandering the halls to offer support for visitors.</p>
<p>He turned a corner, walking into the Cretaceous exhibit, before freezing where he stood. A man stood in front of one of the displays with his back to Kei, and red sparks flew from his hands while he mumbled something unintelligible.</p>
<p>“Excuse me sir, may I ask what you’re doing?” Kei walked up to stand next to the man, finally getting a good look at his face.</p>
<p>Kei’s eyes widened. The man had slitted eyes, his irises a bright green that almost seemed to emit their own sort of light. They were cat eyes, Kei realized. Said eyes flicked to stare at Kei, who jumped at the gaze.</p>
<p>“Hello beautiful,” the man stared at his name tag, “Tsukishima. A gorgeous name for a gorgeous man,” he grinned. Kei shivered. He had what could almost be considered fangs; certainly too sharp to be normal.</p>
<p>“What are you doing?” Kei repeated, quieter this time.</p>
<p>“Kuroo Tetsurou, High Warlock of Tokyo, at your service,” the man chose to introduce himself instead. He grinned like a Cheshire Cat. “Have you ever seen <em>Nightmare At The Museum</em>?”</p>
<p>Kei sighed. “Sir, if you make the Tarbosaurus play fetch with its own rib bone I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” he said in his best customer-service voice that he could manage.</p>
<p>“What if I use a tail bone instead?” Kuroo’s grin widened, and Kei felt his self control beginning to fly out the window.</p>
<p>“Kuroo, stop messing with the bones,” someone interrupted, and Kei’s head whipped around to see Shirofuku walking towards Kei and Kuroo, a frown forming on her face. “Or the humans, for that matter. You know how stressful this is for them.”</p>
<p>Kuroo rolled his eyes. “If you say so, Yukie-chan.” He turned to Kei, flashing another grin. “See you later, moon boy.”</p>
<p>Kei spluttered, embarrassed, and Kuroo vanished before he could come up with a retort.</p>
<p>🌙</p>
<p>Things kept going downhill after that, because the universe was against Kei in every sense of the word. He had to call Shirofuku over to shoo away a spirit crying in front of a suit of armor, and used the fire extinguisher on a woman when her hair caught fire because she was furious for the gift shop not holding a t-shirt in her size.</p>
<p>After work, he got a text from Hinata, asking if he wanted to come over. Kei sighed in relief, already changing directions. He needed something familiar; stable even, and while Hinata wasn’t exactly stable, he’d been a constant in Kei’s life for years.</p>
<p>He’d first met Hinata when he was twelve and his parents took him to the local shrine, which happened to be owned by the Hinata family. The shrine had been in their family for generations, and sat at the base of Mount Mitake. The shrine was largely centered around the worship of tengu and Hinata even liked to joke sometimes that Kageyama, an orphan that the Hinatas had taken in at a young age, was a tengu. Remembering that fact, Kei felt his stomach twist into knots. There was no fucking way.</p>
<p>He walked faster.</p>
<p>As Kei got closer, he spotted the familiar red torii gates that they used to weave in and out of while playing tag as children. Life was easier then, for a lot of reasons. Walking through them, he climbed the weathered stone steps up towards the main shrine.</p>
<p>Two familiar figures sat with their heads together conversing on the steps. When Kei got closer, he stopped where he stood. “No fucking way,” he swore. Both figures turned their heads to look at Kei.</p>
<p>“I’m guessing you weren’t lying when you said Kageyama was a tengu,” Kei said to Hinata, who had a guilty look on his face.</p>
<p>“I wasn’t exactly allowed to tell,” Hinata said sheepishly.</p>
<p>Kei walked closer towards them and stared at Kageyama. His face was red with embarrassment, but Kei’s eyes were immediately drawn towards the big black wings that sprouted out of his shoulder blades. They were crow wings, Kei realized.</p>
<p>“Huh,” Kei tilted his head, “thought you’d be a daitengu with how much you boss everyone around.” Kageyama’s face grew even redder and he mumbled something that evaded Kei’s ears. “What was that?” Kei asked, leaning in closer. “You’re going to have to speak up, not all of us have supernatural hearing.”</p>
<p>“I <em>said</em>, daitengu are pretty rare,” Kageyama snapped.</p>
<p>Kei grinned. “There’s the Kageyama I know. Mumbling doesn’t suit you, king. Or,” he tilted his head and pressed a finger to the corner of his mouth, “maybe ‘servant’ would be more correct?”</p>
<p>Kageyama growled and Hinata grabbed at the tengu’s arm in panic, trying to hold him back.</p>
<p>“There’s no need to fight,” he tried to assure them, “Tsukishima, Kageyama gets a bit touchy on those kinds of subjects, so maybe avoid them?”</p>
<p>“Hmm, but I’m having so much fun,” Kei sighed. “I <em>suppose</em> I could change the topic.” Hinata breathed a sigh of relief. “How’d you get here?” Kei asked. “How old are you? Can you actually turn into a crow?”</p>
<p>“One question at a time!” Hinata stressed.</p>
<p>Kageyama’s brow furrowed in concentration. “I can turn into a crow, but I haven’t been doing it as much because of the moon, and I’m 24.”</p>
<p>“Kind of surprised that you didn’t lie about your age,” Kei commented, “though I suppose you did always look slightly older than your actual age.”</p>
<p>“Tengu age faster,” Kageyama mumbled.</p>
<p>“And how did you get here?” Kei asked, placing his hands on his hips. Kageyama got quiet. He pulled at a loose thread on his robes, twisting it between his fingers, and Kei had the random observation that Kageyama’s fingernails looked sharper than normal.</p>
<p>“I…” Kageyama looked lost, then sighed in resignation. “I kidnapped Hinata,” he finally managed to spit out.</p>
<p>“You <em>what</em>?” Kei all but screamed. He turned to Hinata. “And you’re <em>friends</em> with him?”</p>
<p>“Well,” Hinata leaned his head back in thought, <em>way</em> too calm for what was happening, which seemed to be happening a lot lately. “My mom tracked me down and demanded that Kageyama give me back, and in return, she let him stay at the shrine.”</p>
<p>“How old were you?” Kei prodded.</p>
<p>Hinata scrunched his face up in concentration. “Like, four?” He guessed.</p>
<p>“How the fuck did a two year old kidnap you,” Kei deadpanned. He knew his friends were weird, but this was reaching <em>too</em> weird territory; which--he supposed--he probably passed when he found out that Kageyama was a karasutengu.</p>
<p>“He matured quickly!” Hinata insisted, pouting, “we’ve already been over this.”</p>
<p>“I guess we have,” Kei rolled his eyes, dropping the subject. “What about Yamaguchi and Yachi? Did they already know?”</p>
<p>“No no no,” Hinata waved his hand in front of his face, “we’re telling them tomorrow.” Kei huffed in indignation. Why did <em>he </em>have to find out all on his lonesome that his friend was a fucking magical bird, while his friends got to gasp and clutch each other in shock?</p>
<p>“So, what kind of weird magic powers do you have?” Kei turned to Kageyama. “And don’t try to lie and say you don’t have any.”</p>
<p>“I wasn’t going to,” Kageyama pouted, staring at the ground. “It’s basically what you’re already told about karasutengu: we can create storms and control some elements, and mostly live in shrines or work for daitengu.”</p>
<p>“Is this why you like rice cakes so much?” Kei asked with a grin. He was going to have <em>so </em>much fun with this.</p>
<p>“I was <em>going </em>to help you,” Kageyama grumbled, “but now I’m reconsidering.”</p>
<p>“Wait wait wait I take it back,” Kei pleaded jokingly, “what were you going to do?” Kageyama went back to staring at the ground with a pout on his face, refusing to help.</p>
<p>Hinata sighed and reached under his shirt, pulling out a sun pendant. Kei had seen Hinata wear it for as long as he’d known the man; it was wooden and painted yellow and orange by Hinata himself when he was young. A black shoelace was laced through a hole in one of the rays and tied at the ends so it could be worn around someone’s neck. Kei had never seen a single imperfection on it, save the messy paint strokes created by a much younger Hinata. Besides that, the paint remained pristine: never chipped nor dirtied. What interested Kei the most, however, was that he had never seen Hinata take it off.</p>
<p>Hinata held it out to him and motioned for him to take it. “It’ll protect you,” he explained, “it’s embedded with tengu magic, and it’s not affected by the moon. If you ever need help, you can call for it through this. You might get Kageyama or someone completely different, just depends on whose presence would be best in your current situation.”</p>
<p>“What, do I hold it up to my mouth and shout someone’s name?” Kei questioned as he grabbed the pendent.</p>
<p>“No, Sillyshima,” Hinata rolled his eyes, “call out with your mind, not your voice.”</p>
<p>“I’m still confused, but okay,” Kei shrugged, looping the pendant over his neck and tucking it under his shirt. He didn’t feel any different; maybe the pendant didn’t work on him? Eh, that was a problem for another day. “Any more magical gifts or words of wisdom before I go?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I’ve got a magical toothbrush so you never have to go to the dentist again,” Hinata joked. Kei squinted in confusion and Hinata laughed. “Kidding, although it probably exists somewhere. Have fun with your newly popped magic cherry.”</p>
<p>“You’re disgusting,” Kei grimaced, but waved with a smile on his face when he left.</p>
<p>🌙</p>
<p>A couple weeks passed, and strangely enough, nothing really changed. Sure, sometimes they had to stop the trains because someone floated out of the cabin, and he had to be extra careful of where he stepped after accidentally stepping on someone’s trailing bandages and almost pulling their head off, but nothing <em>super </em>major.</p>
<p>There were, of course, the books. Titled things like “So Your Child’s a Changeling,” and “The Benefits of Dating a Vampire.” Kei, feeling no need to read the first and scared of the contents of the second, decidedly avoided these books. How these books appeared after only a <em>month </em>of magic, Kei had no idea. In all honesty, he probably didn’t want to know anyways.</p>
<p>Work was virtually the same in the sense that there were annoying or stuck up visitors, except this time they occasionally burst into flames or cursed your entire family. So really nothing had changed at all.</p>
<p>Things started going south, however, when Kei noticed the shadow. At first he thought he was just hallucinating; work, less sleep, and magic weren’t a great combination. After a while, though, others started noticing it as well.</p>
<p>Kei thought he could just ignore it; after all, his coworker and many of their visitors were ‘unusual’ in their own way, but after a couple of days, he’d had enough.</p>
<p>“Shirofuku-san, why the hell is there a shadow in our museum and how do we get rid of it,” he complained during their lunch break. He’d gotten ten complaints about a ‘shadowy figure’ that day, and his shift was far from over. He’d reached his limit.</p>
<p>“Oh, that thing?” Shirofuku drawled. “Yeah I can get Kuroo to come down today if you want. It has become something of a nuisance.”</p>
<p>“Kuroo, as in the warlock who I found re-animating bones?” Kei asked, annoyance laced in his voice.</p>
<p>“The very same,” Shirofuku nodded. Kei glared at her. He didn’t trust Kuroo, and Shirofuku didn’t seem very happy with him when they met, so why was she so happy to talk to him now? “What?” She asked. “He’s good at what he does, and I’m sure if I told him you’d be there he’d come without question.”</p>
<p>“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kei frowned. Shirofuku rolled her eyes.</p>
<p>“He’s clearly into you,” she pointed out, “he’d probably be ecstatic to see you again.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, well I’m not,” Kei muttered, crossing his arms and sliding down in his seat. Shirofuku patted his shoulder in fake sympathy.</p>
<p>“You’ll survive,” she reassured him, lifting her hair up and holding out some sushi for her other mouth. It swallowed the roll whole, and Kei felt his confidence get swallowed up along with the sushi. This was going to be a disaster.</p>
<p>🌙</p>
<p>“So!” Kuroo clapped his hands together, eyes sparkling as he stared at Kei, which he’d been doing for the better part of five minutes. Not that Kei entirely minded; the man <em>did</em> have some nice eyeliner, which made for a pretty sight. “Yukie-chan told me you have a shadow problem.”</p>
<p>Kei sighed and started walking, not checking to see if Kuroo was following him. He took it back--he hated looking at Kuroo. “Yes, we have what appears to be a shadow haunting our establishment, and Shirofuku-san recommended you, unfortunately.”</p>
<p>“Hey!” Kuroo gave an indignant pout and sped up, matching Kei’s steps. “I’ll have you know that I’m the most powerful warlock in all of Tokyo, so Yukie-chan was a hundred percent correct in bringing me.”</p>
<p>“Is that what the whole ‘high warlock’ thingy is about?” Kei asked offhandedly, not entirely paying attention.</p>
<p>“You catch on quick, don’t you?” Kuroo pointed out.</p>
<p>“Yes, it’s one of my many charms,” Kei drawled, walking into the Cretaceous exhibit and stopping in front of their model skeletons. “It’s wrapped up in the sinocalliopteryx.”</p>
<p>“The what now?” Kuroo questioned stupidly, because he was stupid. A stupid, no good, idiot, as Kei had decided to classify him as. Okay, maybe he was a bit hot, too, but that was a very miniscule and unimportant classification that didn’t have any value on how Kei saw Kuroo, because Kuroo was, again, stupid.</p>
<p>“Sien-o-cal-li-op-ter-iks,” Kei pronounced slowly. “It’s a carnivorous compsognathus from the Cretaceous Period. Please try to keep up.”</p>
<p>“Not even gonna ask about whatever the fuck you just said,” Kuroo mumbled, stepping closer to the dinosaur. He whirled his pointer finger around in the air and Kei watched as red sparks of magic collected around said finger. He spread his hand, and sent the sparks flying towards the shadow.</p>
<p>“Y’know, this actually seems familiar,” Kuroo said with a frown as soon as the sparks retreated back to him and vanished with a wave of his hand. He stepped closer, his face twisted in thought. Kei had to turn away before he did something embarrassing because <em>why was his thinking face so hot he’s not supposed to be hot he’s supposed to be a stupid idiot, keep it together Kei.</em></p>
<p>“What does?” Kei asked, staring directly at the shadow as an attempt to keep his eyes off of Kuroo.</p>
<p>“The magic,” Kuroo answered. After a couple seconds he gasped, and Kei turned to see his face light up in understanding. Understanding what, Kei had no idea. Before he could say anything, a man stormed into the exhibit with two others in tow.</p>
<p>“Knew it,” Kuroo said in a sing-song voice, and Kei cursed himself internally yet again because <em>you can’t find all of his expressions hot you’re supposed to hate him stop being gay and stupid.</em></p>
<p>“Kuroo,” the man growled. He had spiky brown hair and was pulling someone much taller than him by the ear, eliciting an “ow, <em>ow</em>, cut it out Iwa-chan!” every couple seconds.</p>
<p>“Yeah, yeah,” Kuroo rolled his eyes. “The shadow’s wrapped up in the sino whatever's rib cage, who does it belong to?”</p>
<p>“Me,” a gruff looking man stepped out from behind ‘Iwa-chan.’ He had bleach blond hair with dark stripes shaved into the sides of his head and a scary look in his eyes. Something about him felt off, however. Kei’s eyes traveled further down his body, only for them to widen in surprise. </p>
<p>The man had no shadow.</p>
<p>“What kind of Peter Pan bullshit is this,” Kei mumbled to himself.</p>
<p>“Y’know, in the original book, Peter Pan killed the lost boys if they ever tried to leave,” Kuroo said--<em>not</em> replied--because Kei wasn’t even asking a question, he was just talking to himself; why did stupid Kuroo have to interject himself into <em>everything</em>.</p>
<p>“Ew,” Kei chose to respond, scrunching his face up in disgust.</p>
<p>“You can’t win ‘em all,” Kuroo shrugged, turning back towards the scary, shadowless man.</p>
<p>“Now tell me,” Kuroo grinned, delighted, “how on <em>earth</em> did this happen?”</p>
<p>“Oikawa’s a piece of sh--”</p>
<p>“Kyouken-chan frustrated me, is all,” the second man (Oikawa?) choked from inside Iwa-chan’s arms, who now had him in a chokehold. Kei noticed that his ears were slightly longer than most, and pointy at the tips. Interesting.</p>
<p>“He <em>sabotaged</em> me,” Kyouken-chan growled, “because he’s a piece of shit.”</p>
<p>Kei’s eyes narrowed. He had a vague recollection of a man that looked just like him that visited the museum not too long ago, accompanied by another man. “Weren’t you here on a date a while ago?” He asked the man, whose black-rimmed eyes widened in surprise at being recognized. “You were here with some dude with pale hair.”</p>
<p>“Yahaba,” Kyouken-chan muttered under his breath. His face screamed <em>furious</em>, but the way he said the man’s name seemed…tender? </p>
<p>“Who’s Yahaba?” Kei asked with a raised eyebrow. “And who the hell are you guys?” He pointed at the three men in front of him.</p>
<p>Iwa-chan sighed. “Iwaizumi Hajime,” he introduced himself. “This is Kyoutani Kentarou,” he motioned towards the shorter man. “And this asshole here is my boyfriend, Oikawa.”</p>
<p>“<em>Mean</em> Iwa-chan,” Oikawa interjected, slipping out of Iwaizumi’s arms and turning to face Kei. “Lord Oikawa of the Seelie court, at your service.” He pressed his right hand over his heart as his left leg stepped behind his right, bending his knees, and leaned forward into an overexaggerated bow.</p>
<p>Kei raised an eyebrow. “Do you have a given name?”</p>
<p>Oikawa straightened his body and laughed the same bell laugh that the barista had at the coffee shop. “It’s a poor idea to give people your name, especially to someone you don’t know. For example,” he waltzed towards Kei, “if I asked you ‘may I have your name’ and you told it to me in full, I would now be in full possession of your name. Names have power, remember that,” Oikawa winked.</p>
<p>“Ignore him,” Iwaizumi suggested, “most people don’t deal with name magic anymore, faeries are just paranoid.”</p>
<p>“Iwa-chan,” Oikawa pouted, “I am <em>not </em>paranoid, name magic is incredibly dangerous and should not be ignored.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, yeah,” Iwaizumi rolled his eyes, ignoring his boyfriend’s concern. Kei felt slightly more relaxed at the idea of name magic not being common, but still felt wary about the concept. Maybe it was best to keep his name to himself, at least for a little while.</p>
<p>Oikawa harrumphed, turning to Kuroo. “I guess I can give Kyouken-chan his shadow back,” he pouted with a hand on his hip, “but mostly because Iwa-chan will get mad if I don’t.”</p>
<p>“Thank gods for Iwaizumi,” Kuroo muttered under his breath.</p>
<p>Oikawa ignored him, walking to stand in front of the sinocalliopteryx. “You know, using magic has been harder than ever since the moon incident,” he sighed, “so using even more magic is a real pain.”</p>
<p>“Didn’t you already use your magic to perform a pointless spell?” Kuroo pointed out with a raised eyebrow. Kei couldn’t help but agree.</p>
<p>“Shut it, Kuroo-chan,” Oikawa pointed a finger at Kuroo, still facing the dinosaur skeleton. “Kyouken-chan, over here please,” he motioned for Kyoutani to approach, who did so hesitantly. Oikawa firmly gripped Kyoutani’s wrist, and began to chant.</p>
<p>There weren’t any sparks like Kuroo’s magic; in fact, there was no physical indicator that anything was happening. That was, until Kei saw the shadow wrapped between the dinosaur’s ribs begin to move. It slunk towards Kyoutani and its feet connected to him as his body mimicked Kyoutani’s pose. Oikawa stopped chanting, and Kyoutani lifted his right foot hesitantly. His shadow followed, and he sighed in relief.</p>
<p>“Well,” Oikawa dropped Kyoutani’s wrist like it had burned him. “Now that’s over, I’ll be on my way.” He walked towards Iwaizumi, who slapped the back of his head before grabbing his hand and lacing their fingers together.</p>
<p>“Sorry Kyoutani,” Iwaizumi apologized for his boyfriend as Oikawa rubbed the back of his head with a pout. “Bring Yahaba around sometime, I’m sure the pack will love him.” Kyoutani nodded hesitantly, eyeing Oikawa in case he cast yet another spell. When nothing happened, he turned towards Kei and Kuroo, nodded once, and left.</p>
<p>“Goodbye Kuroo-chan, Tsukki-chan,” Oikawa waved as he pulled Iwaizumi towards the door.</p>
<p>“Tsukki-chan?” Kei spluttered at Oikawa’s receding figure.</p>
<p>Kuroo cackled. “He’s a bit eccentric, but you get used to him eventually.”</p>
<p>“‘Eventually’ implies I’ll be seeing him again,” Kei muttered, gripping his elbows. There was something <em>incredibly </em>unsettling about Oikawa, and he hoped he’d never have to see the man again.</p>
<p>“Would you like to see <em>me </em>again?” Kuroo asked with a slight grin.</p>
<p>“Are you asking me out?” Kei’s eyes narrowed, and he stared at Kuroo, scrutinizing him. This was the second time he’d met the man, and they knew virtually nothing about each other. Not to mention the fact that he was actually <em>interested </em>in going on a date with Kuroo, AKA the stupid, no good, idiot, maybe hot, warlock.</p>
<p>“How are you this surprised,” Kuroo chuckled, “I’ve been hitting on you since we met.”</p>
<p>“I didn’t think you were actually serious,” Kei mumbled, crossing his arms in front of his chest like a pouty child. “You seemed like the type of person to flirt with no intention of trying to gain something from it.”</p>
<p>“Well, I am very serious,” Kuroo assured him, “so, Tsukki--”</p>
<p>“Tsukishima,” Kei corrected.</p>
<p>“Tsukki,” Kuroo repeated, much to Kei’s chagrin, “would you like to get drinks with me tonight?” Kei raised an eyebrow. “I’ll pay,” Kuroo added.</p>
<p>“Deal.”</p>
<p>“Really?” It was Kuroo’s turn to look surprised, which, strangely enough, seemed like a decently good look on the man. Sort of like a himbo.</p>
<p>“Why are you so shocked I said yes?” A grin started to form on Kei’s face, which widened the more Kuroo fumbled for the right words.</p>
<p>“You don’t seem like the type,” Kuroo confessed, rubbing the back of his neck shyly.</p>
<p>“What, to accept dates from near strangers or to drink at bars?” Kei asked, grin widening. He’d never seen Kuroo embarrassed before; he decided that he really liked how the man blushed and stared at the ground, scuffing his foot against the floor. And <em>not </em>in a romantic way, he just liked to watch the man squirm. Okay that sounded wrong. He liked having the higher ground? Yes, that was much better.</p>
<p>“Both,” Kuroo replied honestly as he stuck his hands in his pockets, finally meeting Kei’s eyes.</p>
<p>Kei hummed, deciding to see how far he could push Kuroo before the man rescinded his offer. “One note, the only alcohol I drink is kahlúa and milk.”</p>
<p>Kuroo laughed. “I’ll keep it in mind.” Huh. Maybe he <em>was</em> a keeper, after all.</p>
<p>“So,” Kei started, “where are you taking me, exactly?”</p>
<p>“<em>Iānus</em>,” Kuroo told him excitedly, which seemed strangely (not) cute.</p>
<p>“Pardon?”</p>
<p>“It’s the name of the bar.” Kei nodded in understanding as Kuroo rattled off the address. “I’ll meet you at nine?” He asked.</p>
<p>Kei wondered for the first time that day if it was a smart idea to go to a random bar with a random man, but he decided to throw caution to the wind for once in his life.</p>
<p>“Sure.”</p>
<p>🌙</p>
<p>Standing in front of <em>Iānus</em>, Kei was grateful that Kuroo had agreed to pay. The bar was probably one of the fanciest places he’d ever been to, and he shuddered at the thought of paying for even one drink there.</p>
<p>There was a sleek black exterior with the name of the bar in neat white letters above the door. A man even taller than Kei stood at the entrance, accepting people inside. Kei did a double take. The man had <em>animal ears</em>. On closer inspection Kei noticed that he had four fluffy black tails as well. Kei shuddered at what the man was, an idea already forming in his head.</p>
<p>He shoved it to the back of his mind and turned towards the line, cringing. It went on for over half a block; they’d probably be waiting for an hour before being able to step inside. Kei realized that he’d just used ‘they’ to refer to Kuroo and himself, and inwardly cringed. He barely knew the man, and already he was talking like they were a pair.</p>
<p>He considered stepping in line now and shortening the wait time for Kuroo, but right as the thought crossed his mind, the warlock came into view.</p>
<p>“Tsukki!” He waved excitedly, and Kei felt his face flush. Kuroo was wearing black ripped jeans, combat boots, a red v-neck that went <em>much </em>too low, and a leather jacket. He’d accentuated the liner that he’d worn at the museum and added some glitter to his cheekbones that shimmered every time he turned his head. As he got closer, Kei could even see a bit of gloss on his lips. Kei felt way too underdressed in blue jeans and a zip up jacket, but in his defense, he hadn’t been to a bar in quite a while. Or a date, for that matter.</p>
<p>“Do you want to get in line?” Kei asked when Kuroo reached him. He felt his cheeks burn red and hoped that Kuroo hadn’t noticed.</p>
<p>“Hmm?” Kuroo tilted his head in confusion before his eyes widened in realization. “Oh! You’ve never been here with me before.”</p>
<p>“I haven’t been here at all, actually,” Kei admitted.</p>
<p>“A shame really,” Kuroo sighed and shook his head, “best bar in all of Japan.” He began walking towards the bouncer that Kei had noticed earlier, and Kei jogged to catch up, which didn’t take too long because of his long legs.</p>
<p>“Oomimi-san!” Kuroo stuck his hand in the air and waved excitedly. Oomimi nodded, unsmiling, and unclipped the velvet rope, staring at Kei with slitted eyes. Kei leaned away and gave a slight nod, hoping the man’s silence was acceptance.</p>
<p>Kei followed Kuroo into the bar and let out a small gasp. The interior was black as well, and all the booths had maroon and white accents. There was music playing, although Kei couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. It was some indie band he couldn’t place, which seemed a bit odd to him. It was his exact taste in music.</p>
<p>“The music is catered to each individual’s taste,” Kuroo answered his question before he could ask it, “what do you hear?”</p>
<p>“An indie band,” Kei answered, “and you?”</p>
<p>“<em>Gagaku</em>,” Kuroo grinned and took a seat. Kei’s face paled. He hoped to whatever gods were out there that Kuroo was joking because the music he described was centuries old. He took a seat to Kuroo’s right and looked for the bartender.</p>
<p>Kuroo found him first. “Yo, Miya,” he waved his hand towards the bartender: a man with dark brown hair and a look on his face that made Kei want to watch out for whoopee cushions on the barstools. A troublemaker, essentially.</p>
<p>Miya glanced at Kuroo. “Which one?”</p>
<p>“Osamu. He’s nicer.”</p>
<p>“Hey <em>fuck </em>you, Kuroo,” Miya spat before his face slid to the back of his head and another, identical face took his place. Kei blinked. There weren’t any obvious differences, but the bartender’s face seemed more relaxed than he had a couple seconds ago, and less likely (though still not impossible) to stick a whoopee cushion on his chair.</p>
<p>“Good evening Kuroo,” the bartender--Osamu--said smoothly. “What can I get ya?”</p>
<p>“Saké for me,” Kuroo rested his forearms on the counter, “and kahlúa and milk for him,” he jerked his head towards Kei.</p>
<p>“Coming right up,” Osamu said, ducking underneath the bar.</p>
<p>Kei turned towards Kuroo. “What the <em>hell </em>is up with the bartender?” He hissed.</p>
<p>“Ask them yourself,” Kuroo shrugged unhelpfully, picking at his cuticles.</p>
<p>Kei turned towards the bartender right as Osamu finished their drinks. He set them down in front of Kei and Kuroo with a quiet <em>enjoy </em>and began cleaning some dirty glasses.</p>
<p>“So...are you like, Janus? Or something?” Kei worked up the courage to ask after a few seconds.</p>
<p>“Fuckin <em>Janus? Again?</em>” Someone spoke in an annoyed voice. Kei’s eyes narrowed in confusion and he moved his head around, trying to find the source of the frustrated voice.</p>
<p>Osamu sighed and rolled his eyes. “No, we are not Janus,” he confirmed, “and shut it Tsumu, yer gonna scare the guests.”</p>
<p>“Atsumu can’t help it,” Kuroo grinned as he took a sip of saké, “it’s in his nature to be an asshole.”</p>
<p>“Shaddup,” “Atsumu” swore at Kuroo. Kei realized that this “Atsumu” had the same voice as the bartender he’d seen earlier, which meant he was speaking <em>from the back of their head. </em>What was it with people having things on the backs of their heads that certainly shouldn’t be there? “And to answer yer question, our parents fucked around with magic before we were born.”</p>
<p>“Huh.” Well that explained a lot. He had way more questions than before, but at least one of them had been solved. “How does it work? Y’know, the whole ‘two people, one body’ thing. Is it like those conjoined twins who share internal organs and shit?”</p>
<p>“Our faces slide around an’ whoever’s in front gets most of the body control, but Tsumu’s got more control over the right, an’ I’ve got the left,” Osamu explained. “We do share internal organs, but only the face in front can eat an’ drink stuff.”</p>
<p>“So it’s conjoined twins meets the Mayor from <em>The Nightmare Before Christmas</em>,” Kei tried to reason, mostly to himself.</p>
<p>Kuroo took another sip of his saké. “But which one’s which face?” He rested his head on his hand and grinned at the twins, waiting for a response.</p>
<p>“Samu’s the panicked one, obviously,” Atsumu answered confidently.</p>
<p>“Nah, yer the one panicking,” Osamu shot back with a scowl, “I’m the cheerful one.”</p>
<p>“Osamu, I love you, but I don’t think I’ve seen you smile in all the years that I’ve known you,” Kuroo admitted.</p>
<p>“Yah, but have ya ever seen me panic?” Osamu asked with a raised eyebrow.</p>
<p>“Fair point,” Kuroo conceded, lifting his glass up in cheers before taking another sip.</p>
<p>“So, who’s yer date?” Atsumu’s face slammed to the front, a scowl forming on his brother’s face before being pushed to the back.</p>
<p>“Tsukishima,” Kei answered. Oikawa’s comment at the museum still had him a bit shaken up; it didn’t hurt to only give part of his name, right?</p>
<p>“So Tsukishima-kun,” Atsumu leaned a forearm on the bar. “Are ya human? Ya don’ look very magical.”</p>
<p>Kei nodded. “I just got introduced to all this stuff,” he admitted, “in all honestly it’s been a bit crazy processing it all.”</p>
<p>Atsumu nodded in understanding. “I totally get that,” he sympathized. “What <em>have </em>the humans been told?”</p>
<p>“Some cult named <em>Akuma,</em> which is a stupid name, by the way,” Kei spoke judgingly, “stole all the moon’s power or something like that.”</p>
<p>“How’d the humans know ‘bout that?” Atsumu tilted their head in confusion. “Did they get some kinda tip?”</p>
<p>“I…” Kei stared into his glass. “I don’t actually know, they never said. You’re probably right, it was probably just some anonymous magical being.”</p>
<p>“Well, I <em>am </em>usually right about things,” Atsumu said arrogantly. Osamu snorted from the back and took the momentary lapse in silence to slam his head back to the front. Atsumu yelled some profanities that Osamu completely ignored, probably used to his brother’s theatrics.</p>
<p>“So, what have the two of you been up to?” Kuroo asked, breaking the awkward silence (sans Atsumu’s profanities, of course).</p>
<p>“Tsumu’s been sein’ this creepy-ass vampire for a while an’ I love him, but if he ever lets that fucker bite our neck I’m never lettin’ him have control of the front again,” Osamu answered bitterly.</p>
<p>“Hey <em>fuck </em>you, Samu, Omi-kun’s fuckin’ wonderful and yer just lonely and single and bitter.” Kei couldn’t see his face, but he could tell from his voice alone that Atsumu was pissed.</p>
<p>Kei narrowed his eyes. Wait, how did they date? Did one twin just remain dormant in the back? How did they explain that to their date? <em>Don’t panic, but I’ve got a twin brother on the back of my head. </em>Yeah right, Kei was sure that would go over well. Wait, how did they get <em>laid</em>?Kei decided he didn’t want to know.</p>
<p>Atsumu continued ranting about how perfect “his Omi-kun” was, and “yer jus’ bitter ‘cause that kitsune won’ give ya the time of day”.</p>
<p>Osamu slapped their left hand over Atsumu’s mouth with a customer-pleasing smile. </p>
<p>“Sorry ‘bout that, Tsumu was dropped on his head as a baby.” Kei snorted, deciding not to explore the possibilities of that joke.</p>
<p>Atsumu continued to shout over his brother for a couple seconds, before quieting down.</p>
<p>“Ow!” Osamu yelled, pulling their hand away. “We share that hand, asshole.”</p>
<p>Kei stared at the appendage in question and noticed a huge bite mark on the palm, the skin red and close to bleeding. Atsumu must have some real sharp teeth; no wonder he caught a vampire’s eye.</p>
<p>Atsumu’s face slid around to the right and pushed his face against his brother’s, the borders of their faces becoming mixed and bubbled at the seams. Atsumu raised their right arm and slapped Osamu’s face, causing them to stumble. Osamu lifted their left in retaliation and started pulling at the hair above Atsumu’s face as the two yelled profanities at each other.</p>
<p>Kuroo leaned closer to Kei. “Sorry, they get like this sometimes.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I’d get pissed more often if I had a twin I shared a body with.” Kei took a sip from his drink, engrossed in the fight.</p>
<p>“Boys.” Kei whipped his head around to see a man about his age, maybe a bit older, standing behind the bar. He had white fox ears and no visible tails, however, he wouldn’t have been surprised if there were a couple under the bar.</p>
<p>Osamu’s face slammed to the back of their head in panic, leaving Atsumu to fend for himself.</p>
<p>Their left hand was quickly hidden behind their back before Atsumu spoke. “Hey Kita-san,” he mumbled, staring at the ground. </p>
<p>“Hello Atsumu-kun, Osamu-kun,” Kita replied curtly.</p>
<p>“Hello Kita-san,” Osamu mumbled from the back.</p>
<p>“Sorry fer fighting, it won’ happen again,” Atsumu apologized.</p>
<p>Kei was astounded at how quickly the boys went from tearing themselves apart to dead silent, tapping the fingers on their right hand on the counter nervously. He made a mental note to never get on ‘Kita-san’s’ bad side.</p>
<p>“Hmm.” Kita raised an eyebrow, but left it at that, turning to Kei and Kuroo.</p>
<p>“Hello Kuroo-san. Hello…”</p>
<p>“Tsukishima.”</p>
<p>“Nice to meet ya, Tsukishima-san,” Kita smiled softly. “Hope these three boys ain’t givin’ ya trouble.”</p>
<p>Said boys began complaining immediately.</p>
<p>“Why am <em>I </em>included?” Kuroo whined, “I’ve been nothing but a gentleman.”</p>
<p>“We would <em>never </em>cause trouble, Kita-san,” Atsumu denied fiercely.</p>
<p>Osamu slammed his face forward, knocking his brother’s back with a shout.</p>
<p>“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Osamu added while his brother whined from the back. “Although I wouldn’t put it past Tsumu ta do somethin’ stupid.”</p>
<p>“Shut it, Professor Quirell,” Atsumu snapped back. Kei, again, decided not to pursue the possibility of that joke.</p>
<p>“There are other patrons to attend to,” Kita reminded them. Kei turned to find multiple people sitting to Kuroo’s left that hadn’t been there before. Osamu grumbled before walking over to the new patrons. Kita walked up to Kuroo and rested his forearms on the bar.</p>
<p>“I’ve heard that you’ve been doing research on the latest incident,” Kita’s voice lowered in volume, almost a whisper. Kuroo nodded, leaning in closer.</p>
<p>“Currently it’s just a bunch of dead ends,” he sighed, “no one seems to know anything and it’s a lot harder with my limited supply of magic.”</p>
<p>Kita tilted his head to the side. “What if I told ya that I had a lead?” Kuroo leaned closer to Kita, his eyes glowing with interest.</p>
<p>“I’ve heard the vampires are protecting one of their own,” Kita informed him. “They’re always secretive, but now more so than ever before. Whatever they’re hiding, it’s important.”</p>
<p>“Yeah but isn’t Sakusa always paranoid?” Kuroo asked, taking a sip of his saké. “He could just be more paranoid than usual because of the moon.”</p>
<p>Kita shook his head. “It’s different this time, I can feel it. They’re hiding something important.” Kuroo nodded stiffly.</p>
<p>“Thank you, Kita-san,” Kuroo said before finishing off his saké and standing. “Well, moon boy,” he turned to Kei with a sigh, “looks like our date got cut short. I’d be happy to meet up later, if you’ll give me your number?”</p>
<p>“I want to go with you,” Kei insisted.</p>
<p>Kuroo froze. “You…what?”</p>
<p>“I want to go with you,” Kei repeated, “I’ve got friends whose lives are impacted by this whole fiasco. The sooner things get fixed, the better.”</p>
<p>“You <em>do </em>know that wandering into a vampire den with no idea what to expect is a horrible decision?” Kuroo asked worryingly.</p>
<p>“You’ll be with me, won’t you?” Kei asked. He tilted his head and watched Kuroo’s eyes widen at Kei’s pale neck, swallowing nervously.</p>
<p>“You aren’t going without a scarf,” he insisted.</p>
<p>“Deal.”</p>
<p>🌙</p>
<p>“So, where’s the den?” Kei asked, trying to keep up with Kuroo’s long stride. Kei was a fast walker, but this was just ridiculous. Kuroo looked like he was in a power walking marathon or something equally as stupid.</p>
<p>“We aren’t going to the den,” Kuroo told him before noticing Kei’s confused face, “at least, not yet. We need to stop by my place first.”</p>
<p>“And what exactly is at ‘your place,’” Kei questioned.</p>
<p>“You’ll see,” Kuroo promised. Kei frowned. That sounded a bit sketchy. Well, wasn’t going home with someone on the first day already sketchy? Or was it slutty? It was probably slutty, he decided. Well, not like Kei was actually going to do anything with Kuroo, or at least, he hoped not.</p>
<p>Kuroo led him to a seemingly normal apartment complex and let him in with a key card. Again, weirdly normal.</p>
<p>“Is this where you tell me that this is some sort of safe haven for magical beings?” Kei asked as Kuroo pressed a button on the elevator.</p>
<p>Kuroo snorted. “No, not at all. There <em>is</em> a selkie on the third floor, but we don’t really get along.”</p>
<p>The elevator doors opened and he led Kei down the hall, stopping in front of an apartment door. Kei sucked in a breath as Kuroo unlocked the door and opened it. Kei was terrified to find out what was on the other side</p>
<p>As it turned out, there was something burning on the other side. Something burning and something that smelled like burnt rubber, to be specific. Kei was inclined to think the burning and the smell were coming from the same source.</p>
<p>He and Kuroo plugged their noses when they walked in, and Kuroo made a bee-line to the kitchen. This was probably a recurring event, Kei realized.</p>
<p>“Kenma!” Kuroo yelled, his voice slightly off because of his plugged nose. “What the <em>hell </em>did you do?”</p>
<p>“Why do you think it’s me?” A voice called from behind the smoke emanating from the kitchen.</p>
<p>“Who was it, then?” Kuroo asked, annoyed. His question was followed by silence. Kuroo harrumphed. “That’s what I thought. Clean this up, please.”</p>
<p>The smoke began to evaporate, and about twenty seconds, it had completely vanished. Now being able to see everything in the apartment, Kei noticed a man with bleached hair leaning on the kitchen counter with his arms crossed as a small black cat worriedly rubbed against his back. There was another man, this one sitting on the counter. He was laughing hysterically, and Kei saw what looked like fangs and a snake tongue peeking out from his mouth.</p>
<p>“Suguru, shut the hell up,” Kuroo swore at the second man.</p>
<p>“You have to admit, it was pretty funny,” Suguru laughed, wiping tears from his eyes.</p>
<p>The cat rubbed its head against the first man’s back, presumably Kenma’s, before vanishing in a puff of smoke and reappearing as a small man with black ears and a tail sitting cross-legged on the counter.</p>
<p>“It’s <em>not </em>funny,” he whined, “it’s very upsetting for Kenma. You should be upset too, Akaashi-san’s going through the same thing!”</p>
<p>Suguru rolled his eyes. “Yukie-chan, do you ever calm down? They’re going to find some way to fix this. Eventually,” he added as an afterthought.</p>
<p>Kuroo cleared his throat next to Kei, and all three sets of eyes turned to look at him.</p>
<p>“I <em>will </em>be able to fix this if you three could stay out of trouble and not set off the smoke detectors,” he huffed. “The three of you are going to keep me preoccupied until I die,” he muttered.</p>
<p>“I took the smoke detectors out,” Kenma admitted. He had moved to sit on the counter alongside Yukie, and scratched the hair behind the man’s ears. Yukie leaned into his hand, and Kei could’ve sworn the man was purring. Kuroo groaned, running his fingers through his hair.</p>
<p>Suguru gasped, noticing Kei. “Kuroo, did you bring a boy home? You know all boys have to be thoroughly vetted by the household, and you aren’t allowed inside each other’s houses until at <em>least </em>the tenth date!”</p>
<p>Kuroo rolled his eyes, tired of the man’s theatrics. “Where’s Bo and Akaashi?”</p>
<p>“Upstairs,” Suguru answered, “having ‘quality time.’” Kuroo sighed.</p>
<p>“Bokuto and Akaashi you better get your asses down here <em>now</em> before I go upstairs myself and yank the both of you from each other’s arms!” He screamed at the ceiling.</p>
<p>After about a minute, Kei heard a loud <em>thump </em> and turned to see two men making their way down the stairs. One was lithe with black hair, the other was <em>incredibly </em>muscular (seriously, how much muscle was too much muscle?) and had the weirdest hair he’d ever seen. It stuck straight up like the man had been electrocuted, and it was black at the base and white at the tips. Kuroo’s roommates just kept getting crazier and crazier, Kei sighed internally. At this point, he wouldn’t be surprised if a human-sized bat flew through an open window and they introduced him as their seventh roommate.</p>
<p>The men joined them in the kitchen, and Suguru chuckled at the first. “You have sex hair,” he said with a grin. The man glared at him and held out his arm, and in yet another flash of smoke, the man had transformed into an honest to gods python that slithered up the man’s arm and curled up on his other arm.</p>
<p>“Who’s this?” The man gestured towards Kei.</p>
<p>“This is Tsukishima,” Kuroo introduced him, “he’s a human. Tsukishima, this is Akaashi,” he pointed towards the first man, “and Bokuto,” he pointed towards the second man. Kei nodded, and stared at Bokuto. On closer inspection, his eyes were wide like an owl’s, and his nails were black and sharp. He could probably slice Kei right open if he really wanted to. Spill his guts on the pristine white carpet. Kei cursed his intrusive thoughts yet again.</p>
<p>“Hello,” he nodded his head in greeting, “may I ask what all of you are?”</p>
<p>“I’m a warlock!” Bokuto exclaimed excitedly, “and ‘Kaashi’s a witch, Suguru is his familiar.” Kei nodded and turned towards Kenma and Yukie.</p>
<p>“I’m a witch too,” Kenma answered, “Yukie is my familiar.” The other man nodded in confirmation and went back to nudging his head under Kenma’s hand. Kenma had pointy nails as well, and Kei wondered if it was a personal choice or if all witches had them, and Akaashi had simply cut them off.</p>
<p>“Why is he here?” Akaashi turned to ask Kuroo, rubbing the top of Suguru’s head with his thumb.</p>
<p>“Well,” Kuroo started, “we <em>were </em>at <em>Iānus</em>, but Kita-san gave me a tip for the current situation.”</p>
<p>“Well, spit it out then,” Kenma insisted, leaning closer.</p>
<p>“I’m getting to it!” Kuroo complained, leaning on the nearest chair arm. “The vampires are hiding something,” he told them.</p>
<p>“The vampires are always hiding something,” Akaashi protested with a frown.</p>
<p>“That’s what I said!” Kuroo agreed. “But Kita-san swears it’s different this time. I’m going to head over and see if I can reason with them; hopefully Sakusa’s in a giving mood.”</p>
<p>“He’s never in a giving mood,” Akaashi pointed out, “and why is there a human with you? Are you planning to bring him with you?”</p>
<p>“He wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Kuroo whined, trying to argue with his roommate.</p>
<p>“Is no one going to point out that he’s a virgin?” Kenma piped up. “He reeks of it.”</p>
<p>Kei spluttered. “I am <em>not</em>--”</p>
<p>“Virgin blood,” Kuroo assured him, “you’ve never been bitten before. Makes you more appealing to vampires.”</p>
<p>“And how are you planning on combating that?” Akaashi raised an eyebrow.</p>
<p>“I’m making him wear a scarf,” Kuroo told him, “although now that I’m saying it out loud it sounds stupid,” he frowned.</p>
<p>“You told it to me out loud a couple minutes ago,” Kei said with a frown, “was it not stupid then?”</p>
<p>“It was…questionable,” Kuroo defended.</p>
<p>“So, absolute shit,” Akaashi pointed out. Bokuto snorted.</p>
<p>“He’s got you there,” he chuckled. “You should probably get him a cross, though.”</p>
<p>Kuroo grimaced. “Do I have to?”</p>
<p>Kenma sighed, already hopping off of the counter. “I’ll get it,” he said while walking out of the kitchen. Yukie slid off the counter as well, turning into a cat and following the witch out of the room.</p>
<p>“What do you have against crosses?” Kei asked Kuroo with a raised eyebrow.</p>
<p>“They don’t mix well with me,” Kuroo admitted. “They’re itchy and uncomfortable.”</p>
<p>Kenma walked back into the room with a cross about six inches long held in his hand. He passed it off to Kei, who gripped it awkwardly. He’d never held a cross before, was there some special way to hold it?</p>
<p>“Just don’t destroy it,” Kenma instructed, noticing Kei’s struggle, “anything else is fine.” Kei nodded stiffly, suddenly panicking that he was holding it too tightly. How much force could the cross withstand?</p>
<p>“You’ll be fine,” Kuroo assured him, “I’ll grab you a scarf, sometimes vampires get gutsy even with a cross.”</p>
<p>“Thanks for the reassurance,” Kei said ironically to Kuroo’s retreating back. The odds of him walking out alive after meeting the vampires seemed slimmer by the minute.</p>
<p>“He’s right, you know,” Akaashi told him. Kei hummed questioningly. “You will be fine, he won’t let anything happen to you. And Sakusa isn’t too bad, he won’t let any of his vampires suck you dry.”</p>
<p>“Let’s hope you’re right,” Kei muttered as Kuroo ran down the stairs, a silk black scarf clutched in his right hand.</p>
<p>“That certainly is a fashion statement,” Kei sighed. The vampires would probably be too busy laughing at his clothes to suck his blood. The thought was strangely comforting.</p>
<p>Kuroo stopped in front of Kei, scarf in hand. His movements were strangely tender as he wrapped the scarf around Kei’s neck, trying to cover as much skin as possible. He tilted Kei’s chin up with a finger and surveyed his work. Kei just hoped that he didn’t notice his entire body flush red because <em>he just tilted Kei’s chin up with a finger how hot and tender is that holy </em>shit.</p>
<p>“Yeah, that’ll do,” he muttered. “Alright,” he clapped his hands together, turning towards the others, “we should probably head out now. Any words of encouragement?”</p>
<p>Bokuto stuck his hand in the air and waved it around. “Don’t die!” He jumped up and down, hand still in the air, “because that would be bad.” Akaashi raised an eyebrow.</p>
<p>“Don’t piss off the vampires,” he added. Kei couldn’t tell if that was a helpful addition or not.</p>
<p>“When have I ever pissed anyone off?” Kuroo argued. Akaashi raised his eyebrow again and Kenma snorted into his fist. “On second thought, don’t answer that.”</p>
<p>“Don’t get turned,” Kenma added, having recovered from Kuroo’s earlier blunder, “you’d make a really annoying vampire.”</p>
<p>“Thanks for that, Kenma,” Kuroo praised, “I knew I could count on you.” Kenma hummed, and went back to ignoring him.</p>
<p>“Well, moon boy,” Kuroo turned to Kei, “ready to head out?”</p>
<p>Kei gripped his cross even tighter in panic and reassurance. “Sure. Let’s go negotiate with vampires.”</p>
<p>🌙</p>
<p>Kuroo led him down a long, winding driveway to a large traditional style house. The entirety of the outside was painted in various shades of black. Even the screen doors, which looked more like blackout curtains, were pitch black. Kei’s eyes fixated on a murky looking pond in front of the house. He shivered, scared of it for some indescribable reason. It almost seemed like it was calling out to him, trying to get him to sink down into the depths of the pond.</p>
<p>His vision blacked out for a second, and then there was shouting. <em>Kuroo</em> shouting. Jolting back to the present, Kei realized that he’d walked towards the edge of the pond without realizing it, and certainly not of his own volition. Kuroo grabbed his upper arm, pulling him away towards the front door. “Stay close to me, this place is dangerous.” Kei nodded silently, too scared to speak.</p>
<p>Kuroo slid the front door open. Stepping inside, they slipped their shoes off in the genkan and walked further into the room. Kei pressed himself to Kuroo’s side, terrified.</p>
<p>“Sakusa-san?” Kuroo called hesitantly. Kei heard something rustle behind them and he let out a shriek, grabbing Kuroo’s hand.</p>
<p>Kuroo whipped his head towards the door and sighed. “Komori-san, how good to see you.” Kei turned around slowly to find a tall man with light brown hair standing in front of the door. He wore jeans and a yellow cardigan, and Kei thought he spotted a shining black nose stud on his left nostril.</p>
<p>“Kuroo-san, what have I told you?” Komori chastised with a smile, “just call me Komori.”</p>
<p>“Maybe one day,” Kuroo chuckled, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. He was scared, Kei realized.</p>
<p>“And who might this be?” Komori raised a circular eyebrow at Kei.</p>
<p>“Tsukishima,” Kuroo answered for him, “he’s human.” Komori’s eyes widened in shock before he plastered on another smile.</p>
<p>“Komori Motoya,” he introduced himself, “it’s a pleasure to meet you, Tsukishima-san.” Komori grinned, showing off a set of fangs.</p>
<p>“Likewise,” Kei nodded hesitantly.</p>
<p>“Now Kuroo,” Komori tutted, turning towards the man in question, “you know Kiyoomi won’t be happy about the scarf, he’ll think you don’t trust us.” Kei tugged on said scarf. He suddenly didn’t feel very safe with it around his neck.</p>
<p>“Just a precautionary measure,” Kuroo smiled amicably. Komori hummed, walking past the two of them and sliding open the nearest door. Black, just like the rest of the house.</p>
<p>“Well?” He turned his head towards Kei and Kuroo. “Are you coming?” Kuroo nodded for the both of them, and they followed after the vampire. Kei glanced at Kuroo, but the smile had already left his face, replaced with a grim look.</p>
<p>They followed Komori through a few rooms before he stopped in front of one of the doors, calling out “Kiyoomi! We have guests!” as he slid open a door to reveal a handful of people gathered around a low table.</p>
<p>“Kuroo-san, what a surprise,” one of the men greeted. His voice was smooth and low, and he was dressed in an honest to gods kimono: pitch black, just like the house. He wore a matching black face mask that covered most of his face except for his piercing black eyes and the two moles placed above his right eyebrow. </p>
<p>“Sakusa-san, marvelous to see you,” Kuroo all but bowed. So <em>this </em>was the vampire that Atsumu was so enamored with. “How have you been?”</p>
<p>One of the vampires snickered, this one wearing a bright red kimono and white obi. “No need for formalities <em>Kuroo-san</em>,” he imitated Kuroo.</p>
<p>“I’m simply being polite, Yakkun,” Kuroo smiled, shooting daggers at the vampire.</p>
<p>“I am quite well, thank you for asking,” Sakusa replied to Kuroo’s original question. “Motoya, who is this?” He pointed a pale finger at Kei.</p>
<p>“Tsukishima-san, he’s a human,” Komori replied, moving to sit on Sakusa’s left.</p>
<p>“Hmm, he doesn’t trust us,” one of the women frowned at Kei’s scarf, leaning her chin on her palm and brushing her light brown hair behind her ear. “Do you not think we can control ourselves, Kuroo-san?”</p>
<p>“Never, Mika-chan,” Kuroo smiled, “although you are known to be a bit bite-happy.” Mika let out a laugh, revealing a sharp set of fangs.</p>
<p>“I suppose you are correct,” she smiled, “after all, I can hardly keep my fangs out of dear Suguru.”</p>
<p>The vampire Kuroo called ‘Yakkun’ rolled his eyes from his seat on Sakusa’s right, mumbling something that sounded like “stupid kids.”</p>
<p>“What brings you here?” Sakusa asked, pulling his mask under his chin to take a sip from a wine glass that most likely did not contain wine. He was startlingly attractive, Kei realized. All of the vampires were.</p>
<p>Kuroo exhaled. “Well, I was talking to Kita-san earlier…” Sakusa made a face.</p>
<p>“You know how much I dislike the kitsunes,” he said sourly.</p>
<p>“I’m aware,” Kuroo bowed his head, “but Kita-san mentioned that you were more,” he paused, choosing his words carefully, “cautious. To my understanding, the moon didn’t affect you that much, so he found your actions odd. As you know, I’ve been doing my best to uncover what happened to the moon, so--”</p>
<p>“No,” Sakusa cut him off with a wave of his hand, “I will not have this discussion with you. You are excused.”</p>
<p>“Can’t we at least hear them out?” A woman with light, almost silver hair spoke up, taking a sip from her own wine glass. She spoke with an accent, one Kei couldn’t place.</p>
<p>“Yes, I want to know what they have to say,” the man next to her added. He had the same unfamiliar accent as the woman, and similar hair. Siblings, maybe?</p>
<p>Sakusa harrumphed, taking another sip. “Fine. Make it quick.”</p>
<p>“Thank you Sakusa-san,” Kuroo bowed. “As I was saying, you seem more cautious for an event that didn’t affect you, and I was wondering if it had anything to do with our current predicament.” Sakusa looked like he was about to dismiss them for real this time, but Kuroo kept going.</p>
<p>“Additionally, you seem to be missing a few members of your clan,” Kuroo accused. Sakusa’s eyes narrowed.</p>
<p>“I do not like what you are implying, Kuroo,” he hissed, “choose your next words carefully.”</p>
<p>“Something happened with Kunimi-kun, right?” Kuroo asked. Kei had no idea who Kunimi was, but from Sakusa’s furious expression, he was someone important.</p>
<p>“That is <em>none </em>of your business,” Sakusa spit, “I have half a mind to kill you where you stand for saying something as preposterous as that.”</p>
<p>“We just want to talk,” Kei spoke up, cringing. He had caught the attention of multiple angry vampires in their home. Definitely one of the stupidest things he’d ever done. “I don’t really know who Kunimi-kun is but I can understand he’s important to you. We won’t do anything weird, we just want to talk.”</p>
<p>The room was silent before the vampire with the red kimono chuckled. “You’ve snagged yourself a spitfire, haven’t you?” He grinned, hiding his fangs behind the sleeve of his kimono.</p>
<p>“I’d say he snagged me,” Kuroo corrected, smiling gently.</p>
<p>“Let him talk to Kunimi,” the vampire turned to Sakusa, “you know Kuroo wouldn’t do anything weird.”</p>
<p>“Thank you for your vote of confidence, Yakkun,” Kuroo grinned.</p>
<p>“Don’t make me regret it,” he huffed, crossing his arms.</p>
<p>“Ten minutes,” Sakusa spoke up, “you get ten minutes with him.”</p>
<p>“Thank you, Sakusa-san,” Kuroo exhaled with a bow. Kei bowed slightly as a precaution, in case the vampires changed their minds and decided they wanted fresher blood than whatever was in their glasses.</p>
<p>“Yaku can lead you, since he was so eager to speak for you,” Sakusa waved a hand towards the man in question, who frowned, but stood up anyways. He was short, Kei realized; incredibly so. Kuroo and Kei practically towered over him. Kei decided that this was probably something he did not want to mention to Yaku’s face.</p>
<p>Yaku led them through more sliding doors and hallways, all without saying a word. They stopped in front of a woman who sat cross-legged in front of a door, her eyes closed in concentration. She wore a kimono as well: dark blue with a white obi.</p>
<p>“Shimizu,” Yaku said calmly. Her eyes opened slowly to stare at the three of them.</p>
<p>“I heard,” she replied, “ten minutes. I’ll be listening.” Kuroo nodded stiffly, and Shimizu slid the door open for them.</p>
<p>They stepped inside of a dark bedroom so full of clutter that Kei could hardly see the floor. After his eyes adjusted, it looked more like things had been purposefully thrown to the floor than having just collected overtime.</p>
<p>“Kunimi-kun?” Kuroo called cautiously, “it’s Kuroo, and I’ve brought a friend. Can you come out?”</p>
<p>Someone hauled their body up from underneath a mountain of pillows and stared at them. Kei assumed this was Kunimi.</p>
<p>“What do you want?” He croaked, voice hoarse.</p>
<p>“We’ve come to talk about some things,” Kuroo told him in a calm voice, “can you turn on some lights?” Kunimi pressed a button behind his bed and strings of fairy lights hung around the entirety of the room flickered on, giving Kei a better look at Kunimi.</p>
<p>The boy had short brown hair that shined under the fairy lights. It was mussed up, probably from being under the pillows, and he had dark circles under his eyes that were clearly visible in bad lighting from several feet away. Kei’s eyes were drawn to Kunimi’s hands, where the boy picked nervously at his nails. He looked exhausted.</p>
<p>Kuroo whistled. “What happened to you?”</p>
<p>Kunimi snorted, wrapping his arms around a pillow. “Nice to see you too, Kuroo-san.”</p>
<p>“Sorry, sorry,” Kuroo chuckled, “I’m just used to seeing you so put together that it’s a bit odd to see you…”</p>
<p>“Living in a pigsty?” Kunimi offered. “In an intense depressive episode?”</p>
<p>“I mean, yeah,” Kuroo shrugged. “What happened?”</p>
<p>“A lot,” Kunimi murmured, eyes trained on the pillow in his lap.</p>
<p>“Could you elaborate?” Kuroo asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. Kei quickly joined him, remaining as quiet as possible. This probably wasn’t a conversation he should be a part of.</p>
<p>Kunimi sniffed. “The night before everything happened with…” he twisted the pillow in his hands, stretching the fabric. Kei saw what looked like tiny rips in the pillow, and noticed that his nails were sharp as well. He was starting to think that the whole ‘nail thing’ was a design choice made by all of the magical beings, like some weird fashion trend.</p>
<p>“The moon,” Kuroo supplied, nervously tapping his thigh.</p>
<p>“Yeah, the moon,” Kunimi nodded. “The night before everything happened with the moon, I was walking past an alleyway and heard a bunch of shouting. I moved closer and saw some people beating up another guy and I almost moved on, thinking it was some kind of human scuffle, but then I noticed his tails.”</p>
<p>“Tails?” Kuroo questioned, his expression souring.</p>
<p>“He was a kitsune,” Kunimi mumbled, “and they grabbed him, and hauled him in the back of a van and drove away. Then the next day the moon went to shit.”</p>
<p>“Well, fuck,” Kuroo huffed, running his fingers through his hair, “so you think they used a kitsune for the spell?”</p>
<p>Kunimi nodded. “He looked relatively young, which would have made him an easier target than the other kitsunes in the area. He didn’t stand a chance.”</p>
<p>“What about the humans?” Kuroo prodded.</p>
<p>“What about them?” Kunimi tilted his head in confusion.</p>
<p>“What did they look like, how did they behave, things like that,” Kuroo listed.</p>
<p>Kunimi’s eyes widened. “You think they were possessed.”</p>
<p>“It’s a possibility,” Kuroo shrugged, “however this is supposedly the work of some ‘cult’ so I wouldn’t be surprised if they got some humans wrapped up in this too.”</p>
<p>“They did seem…jerky,” Kunimi told him after a moment, “like they couldn’t fully control their limbs.”</p>
<p>Kuroo leaned back with an exhale. “Alright,” he ran his fingers through his hair. “What happened after that? After the van drove away.”</p>
<p>“I went home and told Sakusa, and then the moon got screwed up, and he hid me away and told me it was too dangerous for me to be out.”</p>
<p>Kuroo exhaled. “I know he’s overprotective but damn, that’s a lot.”</p>
<p>Kunimi snorted. “I guess so. I’ve been pretty…under it, I guess. I wasn’t too happy at first, as you can see,” he gestured towards the floor.</p>
<p>“How are you now?” Kuroo asked, leaning closer towards Kunimi.</p>
<p>“If I’m being honest I’m even sadder than before,” Kunimi chuckled, but there was no humor in his voice. “I’ve got a boyfriend, and he doesn’t know I’m a vampire. Well, he probably has his suspicions now, but I haven’t been able to talk to him about it at all.”</p>
<p>“Boyfriend?” Kuroo tilted his head.</p>
<p>“Kindaichi,” Kunimi smiled, “he’s a human. Most of the clan doesn’t know he exists.”</p>
<p>“I’m guessing Shimizu-san and Yakkun are an exception?” Kuroo jerked his thumb towards the door, where said vampires were listening in.</p>
<p>Kunimi rolled his eyes. “Shimizu knows everything, and Yaku’s just nosy. They can keep a secret, though.”</p>
<p>“Anyone else?”</p>
<p>“I’m pretty sure Komori knows, but if he does, he hasn’t said anything about it. Probably because he’ll feel obligated to tell Sakusa about it.”</p>
<p>“And you can’t let Sakusa-san know,” Kuroo filled in the blanks. Kunimi nodded sadly.</p>
<p>“Will you do me a favor?” Kunimi asked, digging his nails into the pillow, tearing out stuffing.</p>
<p>“Anything,” Kuroo answered warily, keeping an eye on the boy’s nails.</p>
<p>“Talk to Kindaichi,” Kunimi pleaded, “tell him what’s going on, or at least as much as you can. I don’t want him to be left in the dark anymore.”</p>
<p>“I’ll do my best,” Kuroo promised with a nod.</p>
<p>Kunimi exhaled. “Thank you, Kuroo-san.” He threw the pillow to the side and wrapped his arms around Kuroo’s neck, squeezing the warlock as close to his body as possible.</p>
<p>“Strength,” Kuroo wheezed, smacking Kunimi’s back. The boy threw his hands up, a panicked look on his face.</p>
<p>“I’m so sorry I wasn’t thinking and--”</p>
<p>Kuroo laughed. “It’s okay, strength is a good thing to have. You can use it to protect the ones you love.” Kunimi blushed, a strong contrast to his alabaster skin, and dug his nails into the comforter in place of his pillow.</p>
<p>“Thank you,” he mumbled, “I’m forever in your debt.”</p>
<p>“No,” Kuroo placed a hand on Kunimi’s shoulder, “you’ve helped me more than you think; talking to your boyfriend is the least I can do.”</p>
<p>Kunimi grinned--the first genuine smile that Kei had seen on his face in however many minutes they’d been there--as his fangs shined bright in the under-lit room. He scribbled down an address on a slip of paper and handed it over to Kuroo, who slid it into his jacket pocket.</p>
<p>“I wish you the best of luck,” Kuroo said as he stood up, adjusting his leather jacket.</p>
<p>“And I, to you,” Kunimi replied, turning to Kei. “I’m sorry that this is our first meeting, and I’ve yet to learn your name. I promise that I’ll be more polite the next time we meet.”</p>
<p>“It’s Tsukishima,” Kei told him with his first genuine smile since he’d entered the vampire’s den, “and it was a pleasure to meet you.” Kunimi smiled gently, and waved to them as they left his room.</p>
<p>“Don’t let Sakusa know you’re talking to Kindaichi,” was the first thing Yaku said when they closed the door behind them.</p>
<p>“Someone’s snooping,” Kuroo grinned.</p>
<p>“You already knew that,” Yaku rolled his eyes, “but thank you for helping Kunimi. None of us have been able to do much in terms of cheering him up, but hopefully he won’t be as gloomy as usual.”</p>
<p>“Sakusa-san truly is his sire,” Kuroo joked, “practically the same personality.”</p>
<p>“Well I’m never that sour,” Yaku huffed.</p>
<p>Kuroo chuckled. “I don’t know about that,” he told Yaku before turning to Shimizu. “It was nice to see you, Shimizu-san,” he bowed. The woman nodded her head in thanks before closing her eyes once again.</p>
<p>Kei assumed that was their cue to leave, and apparently so did Kuroo. The warlock guided him towards the front door and after slipping their shoes back on, made their way back into the cold night.</p>
<p>“So what exactly is the deal with them?” Kei asked after they’d walked for about fifty feet. He had no idea how far away the vampires could hear, but he figured that this was a safe distance.</p>
<p>Kuroo chuckled. “Most of them are super old, as I’m sure you’ve noticed by the kimonos. Kunimi-kun’s the one exception; he was turned a couple years ago.”</p>
<p>“By Sakusa-san?” Kei guessed.</p>
<p>“Bingo,” Kuroo winked at him and Kei felt his face flush. “The problem is Sakusa never turns people, so he’s a bit overprotective.”</p>
<p>“A bit?” Kei chuckled.</p>
<p>Kuroo laughed. “You’re right, he’s majorly overprotective. If he found out Kunimi-kun had a human boyfriend he’d flip.” Kei hummed in agreement. He pitied Kindaichi and his choice in boyfriends; Sakusa didn’t seem like someone who you wanted on your bad side. He felt like one of those weird overprotective dads who greeted their daughter’s boyfriend with a shotgun (or perhaps fangs? Kei had to admit the thought of Sakusa greeting Kindaichi by flashing his fangs menacingly seemed pretty hilarious).</p>
<p>“Kuroo-san!” Kei jumped, a small screech leaving his lips. That voice was startlingly familiar. Kuroo whipped his head around and plastered on a smile.</p>
<p>“Sakusa-san, lovely to see you yet again,” he said lightly, “what can I do for you?” Kei followed Kuroo’s line of sight to see Sakusa walking towards them, still clad in his kimono and mask. The man stopped in front of them and fidgeted, which seemed unusual for someone who appeared so calm and collected.</p>
<p>“I--” he frowned, tugging on his sleeves. “I need you to keep an eye on Miya for me.”</p>
<p>Kuroo raised an eyebrow. “Which one?”</p>
<p>“Well if you watch one you watch the other,” Sakusa reasoned, “but Atsumu specifically. We’ve become…attached, and I’d hate to see any sort of harm come to him.”</p>
<p>“What do you mean by ‘attached?’” Kuroo grinned his stupid assholish grin that Kei had quickly come to associate with a warm feeling in his stomach and butterflies and goddamnit--he shouldn’t be thinking of such things with the man in question two feet away from him.</p>
<p>“We are…” Sakusa struggled to find the right words, “emotionally intimate. I’ve never been so close to someone in the hundreds of years I’ve been on this earth, and I’d prefer if he stayed protected, or at least out of harm's way. He’s been distant since the incident with the moon, and I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I’m scared for him. I truly do lo--like him,” he corrected.</p>
<p>“Damn,” Kuroo whistled, “I’ve never seen you bare your soul like that, you must really like this guy.”</p>
<p>“Vampires don’t have souls,” Sakusa reminded him.</p>
<p>“Figure of speech,” Kuroo waved a hand in front of his face. “But I‘ll make sure he stays safe. Anything for the wonderfully scary Sakusa Kiyoomi,” he joked.</p>
<p>Sakusa frowned. “You should complete a task for someone because they are your friend, not because you fear them.”</p>
<p>Kuroo’s eyes widened, his mouth open in shock. “You…consider me a friend?” He asked, shocked.</p>
<p>Sakusa rolled his eyes. “We’ve known each other for long enough, I believe we could consider ourselves friends at this point. And you,” he turned to Kei who jumped and pointed a finger at himself questioningly. Sakusa blew air out of his nose in exasperation. “Yes, you. I hope we, too, can become friends. I trust Kuroo-san’s judgement.”</p>
<p>“Of course.” Kei nodded stiffly. He tried to keep a calm exterior, but the only thing going through his mind was <em>what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck.</em> The most important vampire in Tokyo--hell, probably the most important in all of Japan--wanted to be friends with him. <em>Him, </em>a random human he’d just met. Kei had been under the assumption that Sakusa was very withdrawn and not one for socialization, but here he was, asking to be Kei’s friend.</p>
<p>“Well.” Sakusa picked at some nonexistent lint on his sleeves. “I will leave you two alone now, have a good night.” With that, he turned back towards the house, leaving Kei and Kuroo alone in the dark.</p>
<p>Kei turned to Kuroo. “Does this mean I get to take off the scarf now?”</p>
<p>Kuroo tilted his head back and laughed. “Your choice, but it might be cold.” Kei tugged at the scarf, exposing a sliver of his neck, which was immediately blasted with cold air.</p>
<p>“You’re right,” he conceded with a shiver, tucking his scarf back into place.</p>
<p>“Aren’t I always?” Kuroo joked, bumping his shoulder against Kei’s in a friendly gesture.</p>
<p>“Uh huh,” Kei rolled his eyes, trying to suppress a smile, “a hundred percent every time, zero discrepancies.”</p>
<p>“At least someone gets it,” Kuroo smiled gently. The glitter around his eyes had begun to fall onto his cheeks, and a sheen of sweat covered his face, probably due to the stress of dealing with several irritated vampires. He looked gorgeous. Kei fixed his gaze on a building in the distance, trying to keep his eyes off of Kuroo.</p>
<p>“I don’t know how to feel about you,” Kei spit out before inhaling sharply. That came out way harsher than he intended. Oops.</p>
<p>Kuroo stopped in his tracks. “The hell do you mean by that?” He asked, confused.</p>
<p>Kei stopped and turned to face Kuroo. “You’re acting all sweet and romantic to someone you don’t know and giving me so much leeway with allowing me to run all over the city with you for some magical treasure hunt. It’s weird.”</p>
<p>“Are you forgetting the part where you accepted my invitation to go on a date when you didn’t know me, either?” Kuroo pointed out. “And I wouldn’t say my actions are <em>romantic, </em>just caring.”</p>
<p>“Well, I wouldn’t know.” Kei moped, kicking at an invisible rock on the sidewalk. “I’ve never really been in a relationship before. I’m too busy for that.”</p>
<p>Kuroo stepped closer, leaning in towards Kei. “Are you sure that’s the only reason?” He pushed, exhaling in a white puff of condensation.</p>
<p>Kei rolled his eyes. “What, do you want me to admit that I’m emotionally constipated or something stupid like that?”</p>
<p>“Well that makes two of us,” Kuroo shrugged, his demeanor turning sour. “I don’t really date a whole lot, and never with someone with as short of a lifespan as yours.”</p>
<p>“What, and your lifespan is different?” Kei joked, before noticing that Kuroo’s face remained serious. “Oh my gods, you’re serious, aren’t you? How old are you?”</p>
<p>“A lady never tells,” Kuroo joked back, “but old enough to be around before your grandparents were born.”</p>
<p>“Shit.” Kei’s eyes widened. “So you’re like, <em>old </em>old.”</p>
<p>“I don’t know what the qualifications for <em>old </em>old are, but yeah, pretty much,” he shrugged. “So I don’t really date humans because--”</p>
<p>“They’ll die and you’ll be left alone,” Kei finished. Kuroo nodded gravely.</p>
<p>“Have you ever?” Kei asked. “Dated a human, I mean.”</p>
<p>Kuroo shook his head. “In case you didn’t already know, the past few centuries haven’t been very nice to men who love men,” he sighed. “I tried dating Bo for a bit, but we broke up after a couple months. Just weren’t right for each other.”</p>
<p>“And you think I am?” Kei asked shyly.</p>
<p>“I’m not sure yet,” Kuroo admitted. “But I can already tell that you’re different from any other human I’ve ever met. I know that sounds, cliche,” he chuckled, “but it’s true.”</p>
<p>“In a good way, I hope,” Kei nudged his shoulder against Kuroo’s, trying to lighten the mood.</p>
<p>“Of course,” Kuroo assured him, “there’s nothing but good in you.”</p>
<p>Kei’s eyes widened, before he frowned, sticking his hands in his pockets. “You just haven’t seen enough of me,” he muttered, hunching his shoulders.</p>
<p>“Hey, we’ve all got some bad parts,” Kuroo shrugged, knocking his head against Kei’s in order to comfort him, “but they don’t define who you are. Sure, you can be snarky and come off as rude, but deep down, your intentions are good.”</p>
<p>“Thanks for the personality analysis,” Kei smiled gently, spirits slightly lifted, and Kuroo smiled back. Kei felt his heart flutter. “Can I ask something?”</p>
<p>“Of course,” Kuroo nodded minutely, his expression serious.</p>
<p>“Can I hug you?” Kei asked. “I know that sounds weird and you can say ‘no’ if you want but--” Kei shrieked as Kuroo’s thick arms wrapped around Kei’s skinny frame, bringing a hand up to comb through Kei’s hair. He practically melted under Kuroo’s touch, sinking further into the embrace and wrapping his own arms around Kuroo’s back.</p>
<p>“Nothing you ask me will ever be weird,” Kuroo spoke softly into the crook of Kei’s neck, his lashes fluttering against Kei’s skin, making him shiver. Kuroo squeezed him tighter.</p>
<p>“Th-thank you,” Kei stuttered embarrassingly. Kuroo hummed, tugging on a strand of Kei’s hair. Kei felt his face heat up and he squeezed Kuroo tighter, who squeezed him back before leaning back to look at Kei.</p>
<p>“Ready to talk to Kindaichi-kun tomorrow?” He asked with a slight grin.</p>
<p>“Anyone who can keep up with Kunimi-kun seems terrifying, but sure,” Kei nodded firmly. Kuroo let out his hyena laugh, and for the first time, Kei didn’t hate it.</p>
<p>🌙</p>
<p>Kindaichi Yuutarou lived in an apartment complex a couple blocks from the nearest university, but not too far that walking would be a hassle. At least, Kei assumed that he attended said university; it would be a bit awkward if Kunimi’s boyfriend ended up being in his forties.</p>
<p>They climbed the steps to the building and Kuroo pointed a finger at the lock, zapping it with a tiny bolt of magic. The door swung open, and Kuroo walked in without hesitation.</p>
<p>“Is this legal?” Kei asked, concerned, but followed Kuroo inside regardless.</p>
<p>“It’s best not to think of the details,” Kuroo shrugged, stepping inside the elevator and pressing the button that led to Kindaichi’s floor. The elevator stopped and the doors opened with a <em>ping</em>, prompting the two of them to walk out and make their way to Kindaichi’s room.</p>
<p>Kuroo stopped in front of one of the doors and knocked, the lock twisting seconds later.</p>
<p>“Hello Kindaichi-kun,” Kuroo greeted when the door swung open to reveal a tall boy with black hair and an undercut, who thankfully looked like a college-aged student. Kei breathed a sigh of relief. His phone was to his ear, and he seemed to be listening intently to whoever was on the other line. Kindaichi glanced at Kuroo before staring with a look of absolute shock on his face, his mouth gaped open.</p>
<p>“I’ll have to call you back,” he said hurriedly to whoever was on the other line before hanging up. “You know Kunimi, don’t you,” he said in wonder, almost like he couldn’t believe the possibility of someone knowing where his boyfriend had gone.</p>
<p>“He sent us,” Kuroo confirmed, holding out the slip of paper containing Kindaichi’s address. The boy snatched it from Kuroo’s hands, staring at the writing in amazement.</p>
<p>“That’s his handwriting,” he whispered. “Where is he?” Kindaichi stared at Kuroo with a fiery look in his eyes.</p>
<p>“We can’t exactly tell you a whole lot,” Kuroo scratched the back of his neck. “Can we come in? We’ll explain as much as we can.” Kindaichi nodded, opening the door wider. Kei and Kuroo stepped inside, and Kindaichi led them to a charcoal couch in the living room that sagged after years of use. Kei sat delicately, praying that he wouldn’t sink and get swallowed up by the cushions.</p>
<p>The room itself was homey: pictures of various people decorated the walls, including a couple pictures of Kunimi. Kei noticed a strange-looking flower on the coffee table and narrowed his eyes, staring closely. It looked somewhat like an orchid, except for what could only be described as whiskers protruding from the center, as well as its near-black hue.</p>
<p>“It’s a bat orchid,” Kindaichi told him, noticing his confusion. “They’re Kunimi’s favorite. In their pure form they’re poisonous, but when diluted, can cure any stress or worry.” Kei was sure that the flower’s poison and healing properties weren’t the only reason Kunimi liked the flower, but he kept the thought to himself.</p>
<p>“So?” Kindaichi stared at the two of them. “Where’s Kunimi?” Kuroo swallowed nervously, shifting in his seat.</p>
<p>“I think before we answer that we should probably tell you <em>what </em>he is,” Kuroo said, crossing one leg over the other and drumming his fingers on his knee.</p>
<p>“He’s a vampire, right?” Kindaichi asked, and Kuroo choked on air, with Kei in a similar state.</p>
<p>“How did you--” Kuroo stared at the man in shock, his face showing nothing but questions.</p>
<p>“I’m not stupid, y’know,” Kindaichi muttered, “when you date someone for a year you start to notice things, especially when they go missing right after magical beings are introduced as a thing that exists.”</p>
<p>“Fair point,” Kuroo nodded. “To get right to the point, he lives with the Tokyo Vampire Clan, which is notorious for being a bit…overprotective.”</p>
<p>Kindaichi snorted. “Yeah, I noticed. He always said he had a really strict and old-fashioned landlord.”</p>
<p>Kuroo chuckled. “Well, he wasn’t wrong there. The leader of the clan, Sakusa Kiyoomi, is extremely protective of Kunimi-kun. He’s the one who turned him, and he’s never really accepted the fact that Kunimi-kun’s an adult who can take care of himself.”</p>
<p>“Wait--” Kindaichi suddenly looked furious, and Kei leaned into the back of the couch to try and distance himself from the man. “He’s still living with the vampire who turned him? Who ruined his life? Why, is this Sakusa guy some kind of creep?” Kindaichi gasped, his voice changing to a whisper. “Does Kunimi have Stockholm syndrome?” Kei snorted.</p>
<p>“Wha--” Kuroo narrowed his eyes at Kindaichi, judging him heavily. “First of all, Sakusa didn’t ‘ruin his life,’ he saved it, actually, although it’s not my story to tell. And no, Kunimi-kun does not have Stockholm syndrome, Sakusa’s made it clear that he can leave whenever he wants.”</p>
<p>“Then why doesn’t he?” Kindaichi frowns.</p>
<p>“Because the clan’s his family,” Kuroo said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “They’ve sheltered and cared for him, why wouldn’t he be close to them?”</p>
<p>“I guess that makes sense,” Kindaichi harrumphed. “So then where is he?”</p>
<p>“Ah,” Kuroo looked slightly embarrassed now, avoiding Kindaichi’s eyes. “Well, he was a key witness to something involving the whole moon fiasco, and Sakusa got concerned for his safety and basically put him under house arrest.”</p>
<p>“He <em>what</em>?” Kindaichi shrieked. “What happened to having a loving family?”</p>
<p>“Now, I know it sounds bad,” Kuroo sympathized, trying to regain control of the situation.</p>
<p>“Yeah, because it is!” Kindaichi yelled, standing up out of his chair to stare down Kuroo, who looked like he was preparing to fight.</p>
<p>“Boys!” Kei yelled, and both men quieted down to stare at him. “Is Sakusa-san overprotective? Yes. Is it extremely questionable and a concerning judge of character that he’s put Kunimi-kun on house arrest? Also yes. Does he care for Kunimi-kun and want the best for him? Absolutely, he just has a weird way of showing it. Sakusa-san loves Kunimi-kun,” Kei turned to Kindaichi, “everything he’s ever done for him has been out of love. Now, those attempts may be a bit misguided, but he’s also hundreds of years old, which is also something to take into account.”</p>
<p>“He’s <em>what</em>?” Kindaichi’s face paled.</p>
<p>“You get used to it,” Kei waved a nonchalant hand at the man. “The point is, Sakusa-san cares about Kunimi-kun, he wouldn’t do anything to intentionally hurt him. Am I right about that?” Kei turned to look at Kuroo for confirmation, who nodded in agreement.</p>
<p>“Sakusa has never been anything but caring to Kunimi-kun,” he confirmed.</p>
<p>“Alright, then I want to talk to Kunimi,” Kindaichi declared with a look of determination.</p>
<p>“Absolutely not,” Kuroo cut him off, “it’s much too dangerous right now.”</p>
<p>“Bu--”</p>
<p>“Here’s what,” Kuroo cut him off, “I’ll give you the number of someone I know and you can stick with him while he answers any questions you might have. Sounds good?” Kindaichi pouted for a second before nodding slowly.</p>
<p>“Fine,” he sighed.</p>
<p>Sighing in relief, Kuroo gave Kindaichi someone’s number before standing up with a groan. “Well, I think it’s time we take our leave,” he spoke, turning to Kei. “Do you have anything else to say?”</p>
<p>“Nope,” Kei shook his head, standing up next to Kuroo. “Thank you for being so understanding,” Kei told Kindaichi.</p>
<p>“Ah, don’t mention it,” Kindaichi shrugged, watching Kuroo and Kei as they walked to the genkan to slip their shoes back on. “Hey wait,” Kindaichi called, a look of confusion on his face, “how’d you get inside the building?”</p>
<p>“Bye Kindaichi-kun,” Kuroo called back with a wave, dodging the question. He closed the door to the sound of Kindaichi shouting “Hey, what’s your name?” and turned to Kei. “Ready to go?” He asked with a grin, holding an arm out. Kei rolled his eyes, hooking his arm through Kuroo’s.</p>
<p>“I guess,” he sighed jokingly, “whose number did you give him?”</p>
<p>“Iwaizumi,” Kuroo answered, “he’s got a good head on his shoulders, he’ll know how to deal with Kindaichi.”</p>
<p>Kei hummed in agreement as they walked towards the elevator. “Got anything else for me?”</p>
<p>“I talked to Kita-san this morning about Kunimi and the kitsune and he’s asked for a meeting at the bar with the vampires,” Kuroo told him, pushing the button to the lobby. “I’m not sure why he’s holding a meeting, but it’ll probably get messy because they really hate each other, so you don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”</p>
<p>“Why do they hate each other?” Kei asked as the doors opened and the two of them stepped out, walking towards the exit. “And don’t think for a second that I’m not coming, I’m as wrapped up in this now as you are.”</p>
<p>“True, you are sort of stuck with this until the end,” Kuroo agreed with a chuckle, pushing the door open for Kei, “and the only reason they hate each other is because they’re old and spiteful. It’s one of those situations where ‘our ancestors fought and we each believe the other one was evil so you’re evil.’ In any case, do your best to stick close to me in case they get nasty.”</p>
<p>“Nasty?” Kei repeated.</p>
<p>“If they start fighting,” Kuroo clarified. “I wouldn’t put it past them, especially with everyone being as on edge as they are.” Kei hummed in agreement. There was no doubt in his mind that things would go south; he just wasn’t sure <em>how</em>.</p>
<p>They walked briskly, remaining in silence for the majority of their walk. Kuroo was deep in thought, probably thinking of ways to keep the vampires and kitsunes from slitting each others’ throats. Whatever it was, it seemed important, so Kei left him alone.</p>
<p>When they arrived at <em>Iānus, </em>the first thing that Kei noticed was that the door had been propped open with no one in sight to watch it.</p>
<p>“They’ve probably got everyone inside,” Kuroo explained, noticing Kei’s confused face. “It’s kind of an important meeting. Plus if anyone who isn’t supposed to be there walks in they won’t be too hard to handle, considering there’ll be about twenty kitsunes and vampires.” Kei snorted at the imagery of some poor human walking into a bar only to get stared down by a bunch of terrifying magical creatures before being chased out.</p>
<p>“That sure would be a sight to see,” he decided.</p>
<p>The closer they walked, the louder the chatter from inside became. Kei’s eyes widened as they stepped inside; an abundance of kitsune filled the bar, more than he’d ever seen before. He thanked his genetics that he wasn’t allergic to fur; with the amount of it in the air from all the tails, Kei wouldn’t have made it two feet past the door without having an allergic reaction.</p>
<p>Glancing around the room, Kei could see the twins from the night before hanging out by the bar; Osamu’s face was in front, and he was talking to a kitsune with fluffy dark hair and kohl-lined eyes. Kei could see Atsumu’s face resting on the back of their head with his eyes closed. Sleeping, maybe? Kei wasn’t sure if it was possible for one to be awake while the other slept, but he digressed.</p>
<p>He turned his head and saw Kita making his way towards them, tails bouncing with each step. The kitsune stopped in front of them and gave a polite nod, which Kuroo and Kei returned.</p>
<p>“I’m glad you two could make it,” Kita said. “Hopefully this meeting will be much calmer with a few more people with cool heads.”</p>
<p>“One can only hope,” Kuroo joked, and Kita gave a small smile.</p>
<p>“Indeed. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to.” With that, Kita gave another nod, and left.</p>
<p>They wandered further into the bar, mingling with the kitsunes. A question formed in Kei’s head, one that he was surprised he didn’t ask earlier.</p>
<p>“Why do Atsumu and Osamu stay with the kitsunes?” He asked.</p>
<p>“Hmm?” Kuroo glanced at him. “Kita-san sort of took them in after their parents died, he’s like their guardian or something. A guardian kitsune, I suppose,” he mused.</p>
<p>“What happened to them?” Kei questioned. “Their parents, I mean.”</p>
<p>Kuroo’s expression turned sour. “I don’t know the full story, but their parents were involved with some nasty stuff that caught up to them in the end.” <em>Our parents fucked around with magic before we were born. </em>Atsumu’s words had engraved themself in his brain, and with Kuroo’s information, the quote seemed much darker than it had originally. Their current conversation left Kuroo looking troubled, so Kei decided not to push the subject. It clearly wasn’t one he wanted to talk about; not here nor ever.</p>
<p>“Shit,” Kuroo swore under his breath.</p>
<p>Kei glanced at him. “What is it?”</p>
<p>“Sakusa’s here,” he huffed, “and he’s mad. Look.” He jerked his head in Sakusa’s direction, who did indeed look pissed. He was dressed in his traditional black kimono and mask and gripped a black parasol so tightly Kei was scared the wood would shatter. Pulling his mask down to reveal a furious scowl, he stalked further into the room. Such strong waves of anger emanated off of him that he was parting people like the Red Sea…to stand right in front of Kuroo and Kei.</p>
<p>“Why would you--”</p>
<p>“I just told Kita-san about the kitsune that was killed,” Kuroo interrupted, throwing his hands up in a pleading gesture. “He put the rest together after that and called for a meeting, I had nothing to do with it.”</p>
<p>“Then why are we even here,” Sakusa ground his teeth together. “He knows what happened so he can finally leave us alone.”</p>
<p>“You’re going to have to take that up with Kita-san, I’m not even sure why he called us here,” Kuroo admitted with a shrug of his shoulders. </p>
<p>“We’re not done here,” Sakusa fumed, pointing a finger at Kuroo, before walking away, presumably to find Kita and interrogate him until he cried. Kei breathed a sigh of relief. The conversation lasted maybe ten seconds but it was ten seconds too long.</p>
<p>As soon as one vampire disappeared, two more appeared right in front of Kei.</p>
<p>Kunimi and Yaku stood in front of them, both carrying similar parasols to the one Sakusa carried. Yaku was still dressed in his red kimono, and Kunimi in black jeans and a black zip up jacket.</p>
<p>“Did you tell Kindaichi?” Kunimi asked nervously. He looked slightly better than he had the night before; his dark circles had almost vanished and his hair looked like it had been washed and brushed, and overall the boy just looked healthier.</p>
<p>Kuroo gave him a discreet thumbs up, and Kunimi’s face lit up. He leaned in and grabbed Kuroo, pulling him in for a hug (this time much looser than the last one). Kuroo ruffled Kunimi’s hair and squeezed him back, kissing the top of his head.</p>
<p>“Stay strong today, kid,” he advised, “things might get a bit messy.” Kunimi laughed, humorless.</p>
<p>“Oh I’m well aware,” Kunimi answered, “Yaku won’t let me out of his sight.” Said vampire glared from his spot behind Kunimi.</p>
<p>“Would you rather I leave?” He suggested with his hands on his hips.</p>
<p>“No, no,” Kunimi laughed again and pulled away, turning to Kei. “Thank you as well, I know I may not show it but I’m incredibly thankful for you and your calm demeanor. Kuroo-san can go a little overboard sometimes.” Kei laughed as Kuroo gave an indignant squawk.</p>
<p>“I’ll be sure to keep an eye on him,” he promised.</p>
<p>Kunimi nodded and thanked them again before walking with Yaku to sit on the barstools alongside Sakusa, who sat there like a kid who’d been denied an extra bedtime story. His posture was impeccable as always, but the frown lines on his face gave away his dissatisfaction with the current situation.</p>
<p>“Alright everyone,” Kita spoke up, moving to stand in the middle of the room. “Let’s begin our meeting. For those of ya who are unsure of why we are here today, last night I was informed tha’ one of Sakusa-san’s vampires witnessed a kitsune being abducted the night of the attack on the moon, possibly for a ritual sacrifice. With that said, Kunimi-kun,” he turned towards the boy, “tell us exactly what ya saw, don’ leave out a single detail.”</p>
<p>Kunimi’s smile that had just decorated his face vanished; instead, he looked panicked at the suddenness of being put on the spot, his eyes darting around while trying to avoid eye contact with Kita. He clenched his parasol in his hands and squeezed it so tightly that Kei heard a <em>crack </em>as Kunimi crushed the wood, splinters falling onto the floor in front of him. Yaku gently pulled the now ruined parasol out of Kunimi’s hands, checking them for splinters.</p>
<p>“Kunimi-kun?” Kita repeated, slightly louder this time. “Could ya please tell us what you saw.”</p>
<p>“I…” Kunimi inhaled sharply, a strangled noise leaving his throat. “I--I can’t, it won’t--” he looked panicked now, and his breathing sped up as he squeezed his eyes closed, face twisting into one of distress. “I saw--” Kunimi gagged, and Sakusa leaned away in fear and disgust as Kunimi gagged again, slapping his hands over his mouth.</p>
<p>The twins ran behind the bar and grabbed a bucket, thrusting it at Yaku who held it out in front of Kunimi. The sound of vomit hitting the bottom of the plastic bucket filled the room as everyone else in the room flinched, leaning away from the boy. When Kunimi leaned back, his mouth was stained red. The twins grabbed a rag and handed it to Yaku, who tilted Kunimi’s face towards his own and began to wipe his mouth clean of blood.</p>
<p>On his left, Sakusa looked like he was about to be sick himself. He had turned even paler than he already was, if that was even possible, and was breathing furiously through his nose as he covered his mouth with the sleeves of his kimono.</p>
<p>The twins ran back around to the front of the bar and Atsumu’s face slid forward with a look of panic that Kei had never seen on him before, not even when he was scolded by Kita. He crouched in front of Sakusa, whispering words only they could hear. Sakusa’s breathing slowed and Atsumu pulled his hands away from his face, squeezing them tightly and rubbing circles on the backs of them with his thumbs. </p>
<p>Atsumu hadn’t shown his face since the beginning of the meeting, Kei realized. <em>How odd, </em>he thought. Atsumu seemed to be the center of attention most of the time, but he’d been unusually quiet the entire meeting. Except, of course, for now.</p>
<p>Once Kunimi had been cleaned up, Kita approached him with a concerned expression on his face and pressed his palm to the boy’s forehead. He frowned in concentration, and after a moment, spoke. “He’s been cursed,” Kita announced, “he can no longer speak of the event he witnessed.”</p>
<p>“<em>How</em>?” Sakusa seethed, yanking his hands out of Atsumu’s, who leaned back in shock at the abruptness of Sakusa’s action. “When did this happen?”</p>
<p>“Assuming he was just fine not too long ago, I’d say the curse is very recent.” Kita tilted his head and stared at Kunimi with an analytical gaze. “Did you feel sick at any point before I asked ya to speak?” He asked. Kunimi shook his head and Kita frowned.</p>
<p>“Can’t you track the magic?” Yaku suggested. “Find out where it came from?”</p>
<p>Kita shook his head. “This magic is very powerful. Much too powerful for anyone’s current supply.”</p>
<p>“So what you’re saying is whoever placed this curse on Kunimi-kun is likely the one who instigated this whole fiasco?” Kuroo spoke up. Everyone’s eyes turned in their direction and Kei hunched his shoulders, trying not to attract attention to himself.</p>
<p>“That’s exactly what I’m saying, thank you Kuroo-san,” Kita said, his voice as calm as always.</p>
<p>“So does that mean whoever started the moon thing is in this room?” Kei asked before immediately regretting what he’d just said for what felt like the hundredth time. He had <em>just </em>been concerned about drawing attention to himself, but now everyone was <em>definitely </em>staring at him. <em>Wonderful, </em>he thought. <em>Just what I didn’t want.</em></p>
<p>Kita’s breath shook as he inhaled. “Yes, it’s very possible.”</p>
<p>The room went crazy. Suddenly everyone was turning towards their neighbors and glaring at them, wondering if they were capable of such a crime.</p>
<p>“I said it’s <em>possible,</em>” Kita spoke up over the crowd with a frown. “For all we know it could have been someone Kunimi-kun passed on the street on his way here.”</p>
<p>“Tha’ seems unlikely,” Osamu scoffed, face sliding to the front. “How do we know it’s not the vampires? They’re notorious for their dislike of the kitsunes, and they’ve barely been affected by the moon,” he accused. “Keepin’ one of their own locked up an’ cursin’ him could jus’ be a ruse ta throw us off.”</p>
<p>“I am <em>not </em>a murderer,” Sakusa hissed, his pitch black eyes narrowing in rage, “and we rarely used the moon’s energy in the first place, of course this wouldn’t affect us.”</p>
<p>“How do we know it’s not the kitsunes?” Yaku spoke up from his seat next to Kunimi. “Killing one of their own would divert suspicion from them, and there’s more than enough here to conspicuously place a curse on Kunimi.”</p>
<p>“Don’t you <em>dare,</em>” the kitsune that had been talking to Osamu earlier growled from his spot next to the twins. His kohl-lined eyes narrowed as his tails flicked behind him, knocking against the bar. “Riseki was a close friend of ours and we would <em>never </em>kill one of our own. That may be acceptable for you vampires, but we would never even <em>consider </em>doing such a thing.” Yaku opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off before he could say anything.</p>
<p>“That’s enough,” Kita’s eyes narrowed. “We clearly aren’ getting anywhere, we might as well adjourn the meeting.”</p>
<p>“Bu--” Osamu tried to argue before being cut off.</p>
<p>“We are <em>finished </em>here, do you all understand?” Kita glared at everyone, eyes lingering on Osamu. “Pointing fingers will get us nowhere, now go home, all of ya.”</p>
<p>The bar was filled with sound again as people stood up to leave, albeit a little more hesitant about who they stood next to than before. Kei sighed. He couldn’t tell if that was the least or most productive meeting he’d ever been a part of, but it was definitely the shortest.</p>
<p>Kuroo stood up with an exhale, turning to Kei. “Wanna get out of here?” He suggested.</p>
<p>“I thought you’d never ask,” Kei replied, moving to stand with him. The two left <em>Iānus, </em>watching everyone else trickle out behind them. Sakusa and Yaku had opened their parasols, and Sakusa shifted his to rest over Kunimi as well, who’d pulled up his hood in an attempt to minimize his exposure to the sun.</p>
<p>Kuroo began walking, so Kei sped up to stay next to him. They walked in silence, before Kei spoke up.</p>
<p>“Why don’t the vampires use the moon?” He asked. Kuroo frowned, before answering.</p>
<p>“Well, they don’t have much magic in the first place,” he started. “They get most of their supernatural powers from when they’re turned, and aren’t really capable of drawing much energy from the moon.”</p>
<p>“But if they somehow managed to harness that energy, would that mean they could use it?” Kei prodded, an idea beginning to form in his head.</p>
<p>Kuroo exhaled. “Yes, yes they could. They’d be pretty damn invincible if they managed that.”</p>
<p>🌙</p>
<p>For the next few days, Kei couldn’t concentrate. His mind was all jumbled, trying to make sense of what had happened since he met Kuroo.</p>
<p>He paced around his living room, trying to think. To understand. He needed a list of suspects. “Sakusa,” he mumbled to himself, “let’s start with Sakusa.”</p>
<p>What could Sakusa gain from this? How might he be connected? The most obvious point was that the moon’s energy would give him incredible power, far beyond anyone else. He didn’t really seem like the type though, Kei thought. Sakusa came off as reserved and content to do his own thing, as long as he didn’t stand out. Stealing the moon’s power seemed much too flashy and outside of gaining power, Kei couldn’t see Sakusa having any other motive.</p>
<p>He could use that power to protect the clan, Kei supposed, his pacing moving to the kitchen. He opened the fridge and simply stood there in the cold air, thinking. Did that mean the entire clan was in on it? Kei didn’t really know most of the clan members, but most of them seemed…unsettling. He felt that outside of Sakusa, he didn’t know enough about them to actually suspect any of them.</p>
<p>Except Kunimi, of course.</p>
<p>He slammed the fridge door shut and moved back to the living room, sitting on the coffee table, drawing his knees up to his chin.</p>
<p>He seemed pretty upset and tired when Kei first met him, he could have been recovering from the spell? He was also the only person who was witness to the kitsune getting abducted, he could have easily lied about what he saw and no one would have known. However, Kei doubted Kunimi could have placed a curse on himself, which meant that he was either innocent, or working with an accomplice.</p>
<p>There were, of course, the vampires, but Kei had already exhausted that train of thought. “Kita wouldn’t,” he reasoned, moving into the bathroom. “Or would he?” He gasped, staring at the showerhead as if it would agree with him. Kei sat in the tub with his knees pulled up to his chest. Yes, this was a good place to think, he decided.</p>
<p>Kita could have been lying about the curse because he placed it there; either as Kunimi’s accomplice or as someone working alone. Kita was also the one to tip them off about Kunimi; Kuroo had never asked where Kita had gotten his information. He could even be working with multiple kitsunes, although sacrificing one of your own seemed morbid, and the kitsunes didn’t seem like the type. He couldn’t think of a motive for the kitsunes because they were already powerful, there was no reason for them to get stronger. The only motive Kei could think of for Kita was, again, more power, which most of the suspects didn’t seem to want or need. Although it was always the person you suspected the least, Kei supposed.</p>
<p>It could have even been a stranger, Kei realized, suddenly standing up in the tub. Kita <em>had </em>said that there was a possibility Kunimi wasn’t cursed at the bar. Cursing someone on the street seemed simple enough, although because Kei didn’t know them, he couldn’t think of what their motive was. Who they were.</p>
<p>He climbed out of the tub, moving back to the living room to pace.</p>
<p>Lastly, there were the Miya twins, who had virtually no past.</p>
<p>“Why are you two so mysterious?” Kei murmured, moving to stand in front of the wall and letting his forehead fall against the drywall.</p>
<p>No matter, he’d just have to go off of what he already knew. They had been born from magic and their parents died from magic, so Kei couldn’t see them being too eager to get close to it anytime soon. They seemed calm for the most part, except when they started fighting amongst themselves. However, there was that day at the meeting. Osamu had been unusually angry and quick to accuse, while Atsumu remained quiet and only came out when Sakusa was in trouble. There was always the possibility of an alliance with Sakusa or the vampires, with their uncharacteristic argument as a coverup so they weren’t suspected.</p>
<p>Kei groaned, moving away from the wall and falling face first onto his couch. Why was it so damn hard to accuse your brand new aquaintinces of murder? There were too many motives and unknowns and possible alliances that it made his head spin. It felt like he was missing something, however. If he could just sort his thoughts out--</p>
<p>“Oh, shit.” Kei pushed his torso up with his forearms. “Oh, fuck.” He rolled off of the couch and fell on his back. “Fuck.” Kei ignored the pain in his back and scrambled up, running to the door.</p>
<p>He stuffed his feet in the first pair of shoes he saw and sprinted out the door, pulling out his phone and dialing the first number that popped up.</p>
<p>“C’mon, pick up, pick up,” he stressed, jogging down the street.</p>
<p>
  <em>Click.</em>
</p>
<p>“Tsukki?” Kuroo’s voice crackled through the phone. “What’s up?”</p>
<p>“Kuroo, how old were the twins when their parents died?” Kei questioned, already out of breath. Damn his short stamina, now was not the time.</p>
<p>“I don’t know, probably around fifteen or sixteen, give or take?” Kuroo answered, sounding confused. “Why do you ask?”</p>
<p>“Did their parents teach them magic?” Almost there, he was almost there.</p>
<p>“I don’t see why they wouldn’t,” Kuroo mused. “Their magic was like a generational thing or something.”</p>
<p>“How did they die.”</p>
<p>“What?” Kuroo asked, startled. “Tsukki, what the hell are you on.”</p>
<p>“How did their parents die, I need to know,” he repeated frantically.</p>
<p>“Some spell gone wrong, I think it was about immortality,” Kuroo answered, sounding weirded out. “Their parents were supposedly weird like that; always obsessed with living forever.”</p>
<p>Kei exhaled. Shit. “Now what’s the next best thing to being immortal?”</p>
<p>There was a pause. “Necromancy?” Kuroo suggested.</p>
<p>Kei was silent.</p>
<p>“Holy shit. Where are you, I’m coming to get you,” Kuroo sounded panicked.</p>
<p>“I’m walking to <em>Iānus,</em> I’ll meet you there,” Kei spoke hurriedly into the phone. The building was in sight, now.</p>
<p>“That is a horrible fucking idea Tsukki don’t you dare go in there alone--”</p>
<p>Kei hung up.</p>
<p>He pushed the door open, and got hit with such a strong wave of magic that he blacked out.</p>
<p>🌙</p>
<p>When he came to, Kei found himself lying on his side, cheek pressed into the cold tile of the bar floor, and a revolting stench in the air. He tried to push himself up, only to find that his wrists had been handcuffed behind his back, and his ankles chained in a similar fashion. They restricted his movement to wriggling around like a worm on a hook, luring in unsuspecting fish; which, he supposed, he was, considering the fact that Kuroo was on his way to save his sorry ass, and would probably end up in the exact same position as Kei the second he walked in the door. <em>Stupid tengu pendant</em>, he thought, <em>if you’re ever going to actually work for me, now’s the time.</em></p>
<p>Most of the bar seemed normal enough; the chairs were on top of the tables and the bar had been cleaned, and nothing seemed out of place. Except…</p>
<p>“Yer awake,” a voice noted, and Kei turned to see Osamu staring at him. He was crouched in front of a circle, fingers stained dark red. Kei tried not to think of what substance coated them.</p>
<p>Inside the circle was…something? Kei had no clue. He narrowed his eyes, trying to sharpen his vision. He spotted a bone protruding from the mass on the floor, and realized that the smell in the air was <em>rotting flesh. </em>He gagged, trying to cover his nose with his shoulder.</p>
<p>“Don’ be rude to Ma and Dad,” Osamu scolded with a frown, “they haven’ had a shower in fifteen years.</p>
<p>“That’s because they’re fucking <em>dead,</em>” Kei coughed, “why the hell would you even <em>consider</em> bringing them back?”</p>
<p>“Do ya not love yer parents?” Osamu asked with a tilt of his head--genuinely confused--like necromancy was the standard for familial love, and Kei saw Atsumu flinch out of the corner of his eye.</p>
<p>“Yeah, but I wouldn’t kill someone and endanger an entire community just to see them again,” Kei refuted angrily.</p>
<p>“It’s not so we can ‘just see them again,’” Osamu mocked. He opened his mouth to continue speaking, but Kei beat him to it.</p>
<p>“Yes, I know, they brainwashed you into being their loyal servants and making your life’s purpose to bring them back to life,” Kei rolled his eyes. “That’s not love, surely you must know that? Atsumu?” He tilted his head to stare at the other man, and Osamu whipped their head around so Atsumu’s face was completely blocked from Kei’s line of sight.</p>
<p>“Don’t you love Sakusa?” Kei asked pleadingly. “I know that he loves you, and I know that you must feel <em>something</em> for him--”</p>
<p>Osamu cut him off with a cackle. “Ya idiot, gettin’ Tsumu to charm that stupid vampire was part of our plan, too,” he grinned at Kei. “What, ya think Tsumu actually <em>liked</em> him?”</p>
<p>“But…” Kei stared at Osamu in shock. It was clear that Sakusa was absolutely enamored with Atsumu, who seemed equally enamored with Sakusa. There was no way…was there?</p>
<p>“C’mon Tsumu,” Osamu crooned, “tell Tsukishima-san how ya really feel abou’ the vampire.”</p>
<p>“I--I don’…” Atsumu’s voice wavered, unsure--or unwilling--to oblige his brother’s wish.</p>
<p>“Baby,” Osamu scoffed, turning back to the decayed remains of their parents. “Ya always were weak-willed, you’d have never survived without me.”</p>
<p>Osamu opened his mouth to continue speaking, but right at that moment, the door flew open to reveal Sakusa, cheeks red from exertion, panting heavily while gripping his umbrella tightly. He stepped inside hesitantly, surveying the room before eyeing the corpses on the ground in horror. As he stepped inside, Kei noticed another figure right behind him: it was Kuroo, Kei realized.</p>
<p>“Kuroo,” he called desperately, trying to gain the man’s attention, but got spoken over by Sakusa.</p>
<p>“Atsumu?” His voice shook as he stared at the corpses, and then at Atsumu. Kei couldn’t see the man’s face, but he was sure it wasn’t pretty. “What is this,” he questioned as he slowly stepped closer, like someone trying to keep a feral animal calm before grabbing it and sticking it in a cage.</p>
<p>“Omi,” Atsumu’s voice shook out, “I--I can explain,” he pleaded.</p>
<p>“Can you?” Kuroo asked, eyes darting towards Kei in a terrified manner. “What is there to explain?”</p>
<p>“I--” Atsumu’s voice shook, “I can--”</p>
<p>“Alright, I’m tired of this, let’s get a move on,” Osamu interrupted, annoyed. With a wave of a hand, he knocked Sakusa and Kuroo to the ground, binding them in the same chains that confined Kei except with their wrists cuffed in front of them.</p>
<p>Osamu turned back to the circle, working more on the sigils surrounding it. Atsumu’s face was towards Kei now; his eyes were squeezed shut as silent tears streamed down his face, dripping onto their back.</p>
<p>“Now, usually ya aren’t supposed to monologue,” Osamu spoke from where he knelt, “but since none of ya will survive, I figured I might as well explain a few things. Better to know <em>why</em> yer dyin’, as I always say. Ma and Dad worked on creatin’ an immortal elixir, which they attempted to use before we were born. It didn’t work--we're still mortal--but it did give us powers--and our body, ‘course. We helped Ma and Dad with their elixir until they died, and then focused our work on bringing them back, all the way up until now. Y’know, necromancy is no easy feat,” he complained. “We had to control all those humans to steal that kitsune, all for that stupid little vampire to see them. It all worked out in the end, though. Yeah, many will die in the process, but our parents will be back, and we can finally create an elixir. Think of it this way: once we figure out how to bottle immortality, we can still bring all of ya back and let ya drink the elixir as well. This period is merely a brief nap--like a rest stop before ya reach yer final destination.”</p>
<p>“Buddy you’re saying this to two immortals who can tell you that being immortal is <em>not</em> all it’s cracked up to be,” Kuroo said in a sarcastic voice.</p>
<p>“That’s ‘cause only a select few were immortal, leavin’ the rest to die premature deaths,” Osamu refuted, rubbing his fingers on the tiled ground to clean them, before standing up with a grunt.</p>
<p>“Alright, time to wrap this up. It’s now or never, Tsumu,” Osamu told his brother. “Say goodbye to yer fake boyfriend, or whatever the hell he is.”</p>
<p>“His what?” Sakusa, who had been silent up until now, questioned, pushing himself up into a sitting position. His voice turned icy, although the way his voice wavered gave away how distressed he was.</p>
<p>“His fake boyfriend,” Osamu repeated with a devious smile on his face. “What, did ya think that Tsumu ever loved ya?”</p>
<p>“No, he--he loves me,” Sakusa refuted with a shake of his head. “Tsumu?” He asked pleadingly, his eyes watering. “Please, Tsumu, tell me it’s not true.”</p>
<p>Atsumu’s face slammed forward, his face wracked with grief. In the span of time since Kei had last seen his face, he had turned paler, and even more tears streamed down his face. “N-no,” he pleaded, “I swear to ya, on the high heavens and the depths of hell and everything in between that <em>I love you.</em>” Sakusa burst into tears, shoulders shaking as he was wracked with tears. Looking closer, Kei realized that he was crying <em>blood</em>. Red tears streamed down his face, staining his already red-tinted face an even deeper shade.</p>
<p>“Why don’ ya just admit it, Tsumu?” Osamu’s face slammed forward with a sneer. “We planned to meet, to fall in love; to make it easier to pin the blame on the vampires. And it was yer idea, might I add.” Atsumu’s voice cried from the back, furious and desperate.</p>
<p>“No, no, no,” Sakusa pleaded, devastation growing even clearer on his face. “Please, I can’t--don’t do this to me Atsumu.”</p>
<p>“<em>Please, </em>Kiyoomi,” Atsumu’s face slammed to the front, “I--I still love ya, I just--” </p>
<p>“STOP IT!” Sakusa screamed, his voice full of pain and suffering and betrayal, bringing his handcuffed hands to his chest and lacing his fingers together, almost as if he was praying to a god that didn’t exist, or just didn’t care. Blood dripped onto his hands, falling down to <em>plop</em> on the tile below.</p>
<p>Kuroo shifted on the floor and tried to speak over the sound of Sakusa’s sobs. “You don’t have to do this, Atsumu,” he called to the man. “You can choose to make your own decisions. What sort of life is dedicating yourself to resurrecting your dead parents? They don’t care about you, they never did. They just ran out of time to save themselves so they placed the burden on you two.”</p>
<p>“No,” Atsumu shook their head furiously. “No, I--I can’t listen to ya. Yer tryin’ to mislead me. My parents <em>loved </em>me, they wouldn’t…they wouldn’t hurt me.”</p>
<p>“Your parents never loved you,” Kuroo shook his head, “and I’m trying to <em>save </em>you,” he stressed. “You’ll be found out eventually, even if you do kill all of us.” Atsumu flinched, eyes darting towards Sakusa. “But it’s not too late,” Kuroo pleaded, “you can still turn back.”</p>
<p>“Don’t listen to him,” Osamu snarled, his face slamming Atsumu’s out of the way. “It’s too late, they’ll lock us up for life whether we do this or not. Might as well see it through, right, Tsumu?”</p>
<p>Atsumu’s face pushed forward, but he was too distraught to push his brother’s out of the way. Their faces mushed together as Atsumu sobbed, tears tracking onto Osamu’s face.</p>
<p>“No, I can’t do this Samu,” he wailed, “I can’t do this without you but I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. I--” he coughed, their body falling to their knees. “Enough, please!” He wailed, face still fighting his brother’s.</p>
<p>Their body began to shimmer, and Kei whipped his head to look at Kuroo and ask for an explanation, but the man was staring at the twins, enraptured.“Oh my gods,” he murmured.</p>
<p>“What?” Kei demanded, panic laced in his voice. “What’s going on?”</p>
<p>Kuroo opened his mouth to respond, but he was interrupted by Sakusa howling from where he sat chained, trying to drag himself towards the body writhing on the floor. It was brighter now--Kei could barely see Osamu and Atsumu’s faces, much less any of their other features.</p>
<p>“Get down,” Kuroo yelled, trying to throw his chained body onto Kei’s, but he was too far away. </p>
<p>A bright flash of light strobed out and Kei covered his eyes, hearing a scream ring out. And then: silence.</p>
<p>After a moment Kei tilted his head towards the body to find…two bodies? He blinked, pushing himself up with his core muscles. “Holy shit,” he gasped.</p>
<p>Kuroo had already begun scooting himself towards the bodies with a determined look on his face and Sakusa…Sakusa was running. The chains on his cuffs had been shattered, and Kei was suddenly reminded of when Kunimi hugged Kuroo, and how strong he’d been. <em>You can use it to protect the ones you love</em>, Kuroo had told him. Kei’s face paled when he realized that Sakusa had <em>broken metal </em>so he could get to Atsumu faster.</p>
<p>“They split,” Kuroo, now next to one of the bodies, said in disbelief. Both Kuroo and Kei watched as Sakusa threw himself next to one of the bodies, presumably Atsumu, and thrust his face into Atsumu’s neck.</p>
<p>“Don’t--!” Kei yelled, thinking Sakusa was going to bite Atsumu, or even turn him. But after a couple of seconds Sakusa lifted his head, and Kei realized that the only blood on his face was the tears still streaming down his face, despite his smile of relief.</p>
<p>“He’s alive,” Sakusa said in a small, shaky voice. “Oh my gods he’s alive.” His head fell on Atsumu’s chest, which was indeed rising and falling, and curled his hands into Atsumu’s hair, cradling his head.</p>
<p>Kuroo shuffled closer to Osamu, presumably to make sure he was alive as well. “He made it,” he called, just as the door burst open. Kei turned to find Yaku and Komori standing in the doorway.</p>
<p>“What the fuck?” Yaku exclaimed, right as Sakusa lifted his head to stare at the vampires before slumping over and passing out on Atsumu’s chest.</p>
<p>🌙</p>
<p>Two months had passed since the Miya twins split, and a month since everyone’s magic had been restored, due to the amount of magic that was still in the air and the full moon giving them an extra boost. Even with its magic stripped, the moon was still a very powerful conduit, as Kei had come to find out.</p>
<p>He didn’t talk to Kuroo much after what everyone had come to call “The Incident,” because saying “Two members of our community stripped our magic to commit necromancy and bring back their evil dead parents” just didn’t have the same ring to it. Kuroo was too busy with the moon, the twins, and whatever else he did, so Kei returned to working at the museum, and tried to convince himself that he didn’t miss seeing red sparks of magic dancing around the museum, or the familiar laugh that always seemed to follow.</p>
<p>A couple weeks after “The Incident,” the museum staff had been given a mood ring in the shape of a heart by a witch for no particular reason other than they “Just felt like it.” (Shirofuku said it was cursed and they should’ve burned it the second they got it. Kei set it on one of the tables in the breakroom and glared at anyone who tried to touch it.) After a while, the mood ring began to glow black every time he passed by; so much so that he was starting to consider taking Shirofuku up on her offer to burn it in a sacrificial pyre in the alleyway behind the museum.</p>
<p>“You miss him,” Shirofuku pointed out one day after the ring had turned black for the tenth time that day.</p>
<p>“What--no, I don’t,” Kei denied. “It must be defective or something, I’m <em>fine</em>.”</p>
<p>🌙</p>
<p>“You’re not fine,” Yamaguchi said a day later. The two of them were eating at the steps of Hinata’s family shrine with Hinata, Kageyama, and Yachi. Apparently, Yamaguchi had taken Kageyama’s lineage quite well; Yachi, not so much. Of course, she wasn’t worried about <em>what</em> he was, so much as being worried about him getting hurt. When Kei told her what had happened to him with Kuroo, she nearly passed out in shock.</p>
<p>“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Kei pouted, mouth full of mackerel. “I’m perfectly fine, there is absolutely <em>nothing</em> wrong with me.”</p>
<p>“You’ve listened to a playlist titled “sad songs for sad days” on Spotify for the past two weeks; even <em>I </em>can tell something’s up with you,” Yamaguchi pointed out.</p>
<p>“How do you know what I listen to?” Kei questioned, swallowing his fish.</p>
<p>“We’re Spotify friends,” Yamaguchi rolled his eye., “I can see what you’re listening to.”</p>
<p>“Dammit,” Kei swore under his breath.</p>
<p>“Who’s got your heart all tangled up in the first place?” Hinata asked, feeding Kageyama his fish.</p>
<p>“Kuroo Tetsurou,” Kei mumbled, feeling his stomach churn. Even just the sound of his voice upset him; okay, maybe his friends did have a point when they said he wasn’t okay (not like he’d tell them that).</p>
<p>Kageyama choked on his fish after hearing Kei’s comment. Hinata pounded his back until Kageyama’s airways cleared, and he turned to stare down Kei. “You fell in love with <em>Kuroo Tetsurou</em>?” He exclaimed. “No wonder you’re like this.”</p>
<p>“Like<em> what</em>?” Kei frowned. “There’s nothing for me to ‘be like,’ because there’s nothing wrong with me.”</p>
<p>“Don’t worry, pretty much every person that meets Kuroo-san ends up with a crush on him at some point in time,” Kageyama assured him, “you’ll get over it eventually.”</p>
<p>Kei felt his heart fracture. He didn’t <em>want</em> to “get over” Kuroo, he wanted to <em>be</em> with him. Did that sound a little (majorly) selfish? Probably, but Kei had stopped giving any type of fucks the second he got tied up and almost forced to watch necromancy. The <em>least</em> he deserved was a handsome, strong, funny, wonderful boyfriend.</p>
<p>“Maybe,” he hummed in response, tucking his face into his food to hide his face.</p>
<p>“What happened with the twins?” Hinata changed the subject, noticing Kei’s distress.</p>
<p>“All of the magic they had and their opposing feelings forced them into two bodies, I guess,” Kei shrugged. “I didn’t really understand all the logistics. They’ve been stuck in some sort of magical jail ever since, not sure if they’ll ever be let out.” The other four remained silent after Kei’s last comment, unwilling to think of being stuck in prison for the rest of their lives.</p>
<p>“That doesn’t seem fair, though,” Yachi commented with a frown. “I mean, didn’t you say they were brainwashed, for lack of a better word, by their parents?”</p>
<p>“It’s not up for us to decide,” Kei shrugged, “apparently there’s some sort of magical council that deals with this sort of stuff.”</p>
<p>“Oh, if it’s the council, then they’ll be fine,” Kageyama said casually, “I’m sure most of the council is in favor of the twins being freed.”</p>
<p>“Why?” Kei tilted his head. “Who’s on the council?”</p>
<p>“Well, Kuroo Tetsurou for one,” Kageyama said, “also Sakusa Kiyoomi, Oikawa Tooru, Kozume Kenma, Kita Shinsuke, Ushijima Wakatoshi, and Iwaizumi Hajime. They’re all pretty smart, most of them would probably rule in favor of the twins.”</p>
<p>“Kuroo’s on the council?” Kei squeaked. Kageyama nodded.</p>
<p>“Has been for a couple decades,” he confirmed. “The twins will be fine.”</p>
<p>“Why don’t you just talk to him?” Yamaguchi asked. “I mean, what’s keeping the two of you apart?”</p>
<p>“He’s busy,” Kei mumbled, picking at invisible threads on his jeans.</p>
<p>“Busy my ass,” Yachi frowned, and the four men stared at her in shock.</p>
<p>“Yacchan!” Hinata exclaimed. “Since when did you swear?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” she said seriously, turning to Kei. “Now hand me your phone.”</p>
<p>“What are you going to do?” Kei asked, pressing his phone to his chest.</p>
<p>“Text him, what else?” Yachi rolled her eyes. “I’ll let you look over the message before I send it.”</p>
<p>Kei handed his phone over hesitantly. Yachi began typing away furiously, before turning the screen to face Kei. <em>Hey!</em> The message read, <em>I know you’re really busy, but did you maybe want to go get coffee? I’m free whenever :)</em>. “I’m not ‘free whenever,’ though,” Kei complained.</p>
<p>“Don’t be nitpicky,” Yachi scolded, “he knows you’re busy too, but it’s better to say this, instead of ‘I’m free after 5:00 PM Monday through Friday and weekends,’ that’s too clinical.”</p>
<p>Kei hummed in agreement. “Alright, you can send it.” He watched Yachi press send, and despite having agreed to it, still flinched when he saw the ‘message sent’ mark pop up. Almost immediately after, Kuroo sent a response: <em>Sure! In an hour? Wolf’s Den, my treat</em>.</p>
<p>“Fuck,” Kei swore, re-reading Kuroo’s message over and over again for some sign that this wasn’t real. Maybe he’d been kidnapped, and was forced to type it? Maybe he sat on his phone and accidentally sent a message? (Okay, that last one sounded completely improbable. Maybe both of them did. Probably.) </p>
<p>“You better get going,” Yamaguchi remarked, staring at Kei’s phone. “Unless you want to be late, that is.”</p>
<p>“Oh, shit,” Kei swore again, grabbing his phone from Yacchi. “Thanks, Yacchan,” he kissed her on the cheek and scrambled up, staring at his friends. “I’m going to make Kuroo Tetsurou my boyfriend,” he stated, “and if any of you interrupt us, I <em>will</em> sic Kuroo on you.”</p>
<p>“Get out of here, Loverboy,” Hinata grinned. Kei made a face at him and turned around, sprinting out onto the street. He speedwalked (ran) towards the coffeeshop, and when once it came into sight, realized that he was half an hour early. Fuck.</p>
<p>“Tsukki!” A familiar voice called, and Kei’s head snapped up to see Kuroo waving at him, standing a couple feet away from the shop. Kei jogged over to stand in front of Kuroo before pausing, trying to come up with something smart to say.</p>
<p>“Guess we both got here early, huh?” He asked. That didn’t sound smart <em>at all</em>. Kei was an idiot.</p>
<p>“Looks that way,” Kuroo smiled. “How have you been?” He asked, trying to break the ice.</p>
<p>“Horrible,” Kei laughed. “I haven’t been happy since we stopped talking, is that weird?”</p>
<p>Kuroo shook his head. “If it was weird, then I’d be weird too. I’ve missed you, Tsukki.”</p>
<p>“Kei,” he spit out impulsively. (He seemed to have a horrible habit of being impulsive, ever since he met Kuroo. He swore the two weren’t related [they were].)</p>
<p>“What?” Kuroo tilted his head.</p>
<p>“That’s…my name,” he spoke. “Tsukishima Kei. Just thought you might want to know.”</p>
<p>“Like firefly?” Kuroo grinned.</p>
<p>Kei rolled his eyes. “Like firefly.”</p>
<p>“So, does that make you my little firefly?” Kuroo teased.</p>
<p>“First of all, I’m taller than you,” Kei pointed out, “second of all, I can’t really be ‘yours’ until we start dating.” Kuroo’s eyes widened in surprise. Kei continued. “So, Kuroo Tetsurou, is this your way of saying you think we’re right for each other?”</p>
<p>“This sounds like a marriage proposal,” Kuroo chuckled.</p>
<p>“Someone’s eager.”</p>
<p>“Wha--that’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Kuroo pouted. “Tsukishima Kei, you are a menace.”</p>
<p>“But I’m your menace, right?” Kei asked, glancing at Kuroo shyly.</p>
<p>Kuroo grabbed Kei’s hands and stared into his eyes. “For as long as you’ll have me,” he confirmed with a serious face. Kei tried to match his face, but cracked almost instantly, breaking out into laughter. Kuroo followed quickly after, until the two of them were standing on the sidewalk, laughing like a bunch of fools.</p>
<p>“Kei?” Kuroo asked, grabbing the sides of Kei’s face.</p>
<p>“Yeah?” Kei responded breathily. He couldn’t tell if he felt hot because of the heat from Kuroo’s hands, or if he was just blushing insanely beyond belief. It was probably the latter.</p>
<p>“Can I kiss you?”</p>
<p>“You don’t even have to ask,” Kei smiled, and Kuroo leaned in to capture his lips. <em>Oh</em>, Kei thought,<em> he feels just as hot as I do</em>.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Some notes! There is a shrine on Mount Mitake, although it’s much larger, higher up the mountain, and is about two hours away from Tokyo. The museum Tsukki works at is based off of the National Museum of Nature and Science, which is also in Tokyo. Finally, the name Iānus is actually another name for Janus. Essentially, the twins hate it when they get called Janus but they secretly lean into it anyways.</p>
<p>Fun fact: when I was deciding on who the villain should be the first thing that popped into my head was the Miya twins and I immediately went “nope” and ignored it for the rest of the day and then got up at two in the morning and wrote part of the reveal scene with Sakusa just fucking sobbing and I almost cried.</p>
<p>Come talk to me on <a href="https://twitter.com/gr1lledcheesy">twitter</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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